Poudre schools' enrollment numbers increase slightly

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Poudre School District's official enrollment for 2007-2008, based on head counts in October, is 23,643, an increase of 1.7 percent from the previous year.

Although the numbers are collected in a small time frame, they are critical when it comes to calculating state funding for K-12 education. Poudre School District this year receives $6,275 per pupil, said Dave Montoya, budget manager for the district. The state formula for allocating education dollars gives more money per student to smaller districts, Montoya noted, and gives PSD the least amount per student.

PSD will start using the student enrollment numbers early next year to forecast trends, Montoya said. District leaders weren't expecting any increase this year, he added.

Following are some highlights from the numbers.

With the opening of Rice Elementary School in Wellington, the community has 829 elementary students compared with 740 at Eyestone Elementary alone last year. That's a 12 percent increase. This year, Rice is home to 317 students and Eyestone has 512.

With the division of young students into two schools in Wellington, Zach Elementary in south Fort Collins now has the largest student body at 609. That's a 6 percent increase over last year. The number is somewhat misleading because Zach's sixth graders go to school at Kinard Junior High, bringing that building's enrollment to 781.

Tavelli Elementary in north Fort Collins is a close second for top elementary enrollment with 606.

Timnath, a one-school town, has 577 elementary students and will get a new school next year.

Enrollment in the mountain schools - Red Feather Lakes, Livermore and Stove Prairie - remained about the same with 163 students.

Overall, elementary school enrollment increased by 215 students.

The junior high population in Wellington, however, is just about the same - 332 this year compared with 331 last year. Those numbers make it the smallest junior high school is the district.

In contrast, the largest junior high schools are in south Fort Collins. Webber is home to 831 students and Preston has 810.

In LaPorte and north Fort Collins, junior high enrollment hovers around 400. Cache La Poudre Junior High saw a substantial gain of 9.5 percent with a current enrollment of 412. Nearby Lincoln Junior High, however, lost 15.7 percent of its enrollment, leaving it with 406 students.

Overall, the junior high population increased by 25 students.

Among high schools, Rocky Mountain took the lead with 1,728 students. Last year's leader, Poudre High School, dropped 61 students for an enrollment of 1,725.

Centennial and Fossil Ridge high schools also gained students, while Fort Collins High School's enrollment dropped by 42.

Overall, total high school enrollment dropped by 12.

Enrollments at PSD's individual schools will change dramatically in 2009 when the district uniformly changes grade levels to kindergarten through grade five elementary schools, grades six to eight middle schools, and grades nine to 12 high schools, with a few exceptions.