August 12, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
Enrollment in the DeKalb County School System is up by 163 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 3,044 as of Thursday (August 12), up from 2,881 last year.
Director of Schools Patrick Cripps told WJLE Thursday that he believes the reasons for the increase in enrollment are that the county has grown in population, students and parents are anxious to get back to all in-person learning at school after a year of on campus learning for some and remote learning for others which so many became disenchanted with last year, and the fact that there is no mask mandate this year at school.
According to Attendance Supervisor Joey Reeder, the numbers are up at every school but one. “We’re up by 163 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 12 enrollment at each school is as follows compared to last year:
DCHS: 890 (up by 58 students)
DeKalb Middle School: 577 (down by 2 students)
Northside Elementary: 578 (up by 26 students)
Smithville Elementary: 574 (up by 22 students)
DeKalb West School: 425 (up by 39 students)
Reeder also provided numbers on how the enrollment has been trending over the last eight years district-wide
Year 2014: 3,005 students
2015: 3,015 students ( up by 10 students)
2016: 2,950 students (down by 65 students)
2017: 3,039 students (up by 89 students)
2018: 2,993 students (down by 46 students)
2019: 2,999 students (up by 6 students)
2020: 2,881 students (down by 118 students)
2021: 3,044 students (up by 163 students)