It’s just the start of the school year, but enrollment figures always interest the Kyrene Governing Board, so officials supplied a report of student enrollment taken on the tenth day of classes, Aug. 14.
The glimpse looks fairly stable, according to Mark Knight, the newly named assistant superintendent of Education Services for the Kyrene District — although, the figures show a drop by 15 elementary students, bringing the total elementary school students in the district to 11,046, which includes kindergarten through fifth grade.
A positive statistic, shared by Knight, is that class size for all grade levels in the district, K-8, is overwhelming in-line with their targets. Knight noted that if a classroom size does exceed the range, the teacher is supported with an instructional assistant.
Knight reviewed key indicators of enrollment and stressed that his report is an initial snapshot of the year. Another report will be presented after 40 days of classes, which will compare actual enrollment numbers to the target numbers included in the annual plan known as The Blueprint.
While enrollment appears steady for this year and next, it also suggests that the district will need to increase outreach to families to attract younger students in the near future. Currently, there are nearly 500 more eighth-grade students in the district than there are students beginning kindergarten.
More outreach to out-of-district families is one strategy that the district plans to use, as the number of Kyrene families with very young children has dropped. This trend is according to data gathered each year by Rick Brammer of Applied Economics, a consulting firm that specializes in school population projects and fiscal impact assessment.
Enrollment numbers are critical to budget planning and are closely followed the district’s Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Calles.
“Trends in enrollment are important tools for Kyrene staff and our Governing Board,” said Calles. “For the past 25 years, the district has worked with Rick to follow trends over time.”
Nancy Dudenhoefer, assistant director of marketing communication and public relations, said that she is already focusing on outreach to families with young children.
“This year, in conjunction with our Kids Club managers, we were able to have staff go door- to-door providing information about the quality of our neighborhood schools to parents with young children.
“In addition, every year, we visit all local pre-schools with information and work closely with area moms’ clubs as well,” said Dudenhoefer.
A greater focus on marketing was one reason behind a shift on the district’s organizational chart said Superintendent David Schauer.
“Several significant changes were made, including separating community education and marketing communications so there is additional effort on outreach to the community.
One example is a new video, which was showcased and will be posted on the district’s website. It features students in a STEM program and shows how Kyrene kids are being prepared for the 21st century workforce.
“We continue to explore new ways, including expanding efforts on social media, to reach parents of children who are not yet in school,” said Dudenhoefer.
