More students than expected showed up for the first day of school Wednesday on Bainbridge.
Bainbridge Island School District announced a preliminary first-day head count of 3,700 students, amounting to 115 full-time equivalent students more than expected. Administrators had projected enrollment to dip by about 25 FTE.
Here is the email district spokeswoman Pam Keyes sent to parents Thursday:
Welcome back to a new, exciting school year!
The Bainbridge Island School District is delighted to report preliminary,
first-day enrollment of 3700 students – a number that is 115 FTE (full-time
equivalent) students higher than anticipated. We want to add a special
welcome to the many new families who enrolled students during these past
few weeks. It is wonderful to see so many new faces in each of our schools.The enrollment increase is distributed across all grade levels, K-12. While
numbers tend to fluctuate during the first few days and weeks of every
school year, there has clearly been the need to add staffing and additional
class sections. The district has added two elementary classes and high
school sections in English, Math, Science, Health and World Languages.While changes in the number of high school sections will affect some
individual student schedules, BHS Principal Jake Haley noted that “reducing
and balancing class size will support the district’s goal to provide
students with the best possible learning environment.” The district will
continue to carefully monitor enrollment and class size to see if
additional adjustments are needed.Best regards to all!
