August 8, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
Enrollment in the DeKalb County School System is up by five students compared to last year at this time.
Comparing the numbers for the first full week of school, total enrollment from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade district wide is 2,998 as of Thursday (August 8), up from 2,993 last year.
According to Attendance Supervisor Joey Reeder, the numbers are down at two of the five schools and up at the other three. “We’re up by five students county wide from where we were a year ago. Of course, this is an ever changing number and it will be changing daily from now until probably after Labor Day. Usually it’s the Monday after Labor Day before you get numbers firmed up about who has moved in and moved out,” said Reeder.
As of Thursday, August 8 enrollment at each school is as follows compared to last year:
DCHS: 840 (down by 33 students)
DeKalb Middle School: 607 (up by 35 students)
Northside Elementary: 594 (down by 9 students)
Smithville Elementary: 560 (up by 4 students)
DeKalb West School: 397 (up by 8 students)
Enrollment at DCHS breaks down as follows:
9th grade: 221 students (down by 5 students)
10th grade: 210 students (down by 13 students)
11th grade: 209 students (down by 4 students)
12th grade: 201 students (down by 10 students)
Enrollment District-Wide by grade level is as follows:
Pre-Kindergarten: 122 (SES & DWS combined) (up by 11)
Kindergarten: 222 (SES & DWS combined) (up by 10)
1st grade: 212 (SES & DWS) (down by 1)
2nd grade: 220 (SES, Northside, & DWS) (up by 5)
3rd grade: 230 (Northside & DWS) (same as last year)
4th grade: 219 (Northside & DWS) (up by 21)
5th grade: 205 (Northside & DWS) (down by 37)
6th grade: 239 (DMS & DWS) (down by 13)
7th grade: 255 (DMS & DWS) (up by 24)
8th grade: 234 (DMS & DWS) (up by 18)
Enrollment by School:
DeKalb Middle School:
6th grade: 212 (up by 2)
7th grade: 213 (up by 29)
8th grade: 182 (up by 4)
Northside Elementary:
2nd grade: 61 (up by 10)
3rd grade: 185 (up by 2)
4th grade: 181 (up by 23)
5th grade: 167 (down by 44)
Smithville Elementary:
Pre-K: 99 (up by 3)
Kindergarten: 174 (up by 5)
1st grade: 169 (up by 1)
2nd grade: 118 (down by 4)
DeKalb West School:
Pre-K: 23 (up by 8)
Kindergarten: 48 (up by 5)
1st grade: 44 (down by 1)
2nd grade: 41 (down by 1)
3rd grade: 44 (down by 3)
4th grade: 38 (down by 2)
5th grade: 38 (up by 8)
6th grade: 27 (down by 15)
7th grade: 42 (down by 5)
8th grade: 52 (up by 14)
Reeder urges parents to make sure their children attend school on time every day classes are in session. “Students who miss 18 school days per year-regardless of the cause-will be considered chronically absent under State Department of Education regulations. The number of chronically absent students will also reflect on the overall performance score given to the school system. The state uses an accountability measure called the Chronically Out-of-School Indicator. Students who miss more than 10 percent of the school year, for any reason, are considered chronically out of school. This would typically be students that miss 18 or more school days out of our 180-day school year calendar,” reported Reeder.
Under state law, if a student misses as few as five days of school “unexcused” he or she is considered “truant”. “We won’t take you to juvenile court for five days missed but we will send a letter to the parents to arrange a meeting with them to see what can be done to improve their child’s attendance,” said Reeder.
Tardies are also a concern, especially early in the morning. “We don’t have a lot of tardies during the day. Its like during first block in the morning when they are getting there a few minutes late. We ask parents bringing their children to school to please arrive on time by 7:45 a.m. because three tardies can equal one unexcused absence,” said Reeder“
Meanwhile, Reeder urges parents who are home schooling their children to contact the school system to let them know.”I wish you would come by and register with us. It helps us to know where they (students) are and what they are doing. Some people withdraw their kids from the school system to home school and we never hear from them again in the following years. Legally, parents are suppose to register but there is really not a penalty if they don’t. It just helps us keep up with where the students are at. Registering is not a big deal. It doesn’t take but five minutes and it would help us out some,” said Reeder.