August 25, 2010 EditionAlso in this issue...News | Sports Scene | Education | Viewpoints | Records |
First-day enrollment up in countyGretchen HuntEditor First-day school enrollment saw an increase in Lawrence County this year with a countywide total of 3,193 students. The total is up 91 students from last year's first-day figure of 3,102. Sloan-Hendrix School District saw a major increase, mainly due to an influx of students from the former Twin Rivers School District. The district had 511 students on the first day last year compared to 677 this year. Supt. Mitch Walton said the district enjoyed a smooth first day despite the increase of 166 students. "We had a great first day of school!" he said. "Our principals, faculty and staff always do a tremendous job of organizing and following through with the first day of school." Walton did say there were some timing issues the first day on new bus routes that serve the Ravenden Springs area, but they were improved by Friday. "The parents and patrons from the Twin Rivers area have been very cooperative in working through registration procedures, organizing bus routes and providing our staff with information that we need to start off the school year in a positive way." Lawrence County School District reported first day enrollment on its two campuses at 1,076, up 26 students from last year's figure of 1,050. Each campus saw a slight increase, with Black Rock up to 305 from 292 last year, and Walnut Ridge up from 758 to 771. Hoxie experienced a decrease in first-day enrollment at 959, down 69 students from last year's total of 1,028. Truxler said much of that decrease was in the high school. "High school is down between 30 to 40 students, but I feel most of these will be here by Labor Day," he said. Hillcrest School District was also down from last year's figures with 411 students compared to 442 last year. A big part of the 31-student decrease can be explained by a small kindergarten class. "We had 40 graduates last year, and only 26 kindergarten students this year," Supt. Greg Crabtree said. "So, we're 14 short there." The Imboden Area Charter School first-day enrollment was nearly identical to last year, down one from 71 to 70. First-day enrollment numbers are preliminary, and all schools expect to see additional enrollment over the next couple of weeks.
Totals for the first day of school since 2001 are as follows:
2009 - 3,102 2008 - 3,112 2007 - 3,246 2006 - 3,096 2005 - 3,132 2004 - 3,158 2003 - 3,223 2002 - 3,260 2001 - 3,170
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