Central Park schools continues to add students with this year’s enrollment hitting 9,818 students — 11% of the kids in Denver Public Schools.

Enrollment in Central Park increased by 2,027 from 2018 to 2023, or an average of 338 more students per year, based on figures from the official annual enrollment count by the Colorado Department of Education that was released Jan. 17.

On the demographic front, when all Central Park schools are included, the average percentage of Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) students is 38.5%. FRL is a proxy for lower income. The four DSST schools enroll a high percentage of FRL students than other local schools.

When those schools are removed, the average FRL rate is 25%. Overall minority enrollment, on average, is 56.7% . Without the four DSSTs, the average percentage of minority enrollment is 42.7%.

DPS also marked an increase, gaining 371 students to hit 88,235. Denver has attributed the increase to an influx of migrant students, many from Venezuela and Columbia. More than 3,000 refugee children have enrolled in DPS so far this year. Ashley Elementary on the southern boundary of Central Park has accepted more than 220 refugee students since the fall to bring its enrollment to more than 410.

School funding is largely based on enrollment numbers that come from the October count. Many of the students new to the country came after the October count which raises questions about how much more money schools will get for the unexpected surge in refugees.

The Colorado Department of Education says it plans to help.

“CDE is committed to working with districts and school teams to ensure they are supported in serving these multilingual learners,” the department said in a statement.

Highlights from Central Park

Northfield High School gained the most students in Central Park at 194, which brings its enrollment to 2,066. DSST-Conservatory Green High School which shares the Paul Sandoval Campus with Northfield enrolled 562, bumping campus enrollment to 2,628.

The district has pegged the campus capacity in the 2,500 range since it opened in 2015. But DPS has also said Sandoval could hold hundreds more if necessary.

To accommodate the high numbers, many Northfield teachers must share classrooms which means teachers must leave their room for a period or more so another teacher with a class can use the physical space. The school is giving some grades an “off’’ period to reduce the strain on space, Principal Jessica Rodriguez Bracey said. Class sizes are growing, making a cap on enrollment in the 2,200 range a possibly, she said.

Swigert Elementary added 82 more students over last year putting its enrollment at 653. Swigert shared its building at 35^th Avenue and Syracuse Street with Denver Discovery middle school until it closed at the end of last school year.

Without DDS, a good number of classrooms opened up that Swigert Principal Shelby Dennis is using mainly for additional ECE and kindergarten classes.

“We added one kindergarten, one second grade and two ECE rooms this past year,” Dennis said. “Next year we will add one more first grade.”

Westerly Creek Elementary, Central Park’s first school, also enjoyed an increase of 79 students for a total of 673.  Principal Jill Corcoran said the increase is part of Westerly’s recovery from pre-pandemic enrollment declines. She did not add any classes (four classrooms in each grade, K-5) or need more teachers as the additional students are spread over all grades.

Inspire Elementary in North End added 62 children to come in at 629.

Statewide enrollment

For the second straight year enrollment in Colorado schools declined with the 2023-24 school year reaching the state’s lowest mark in a decade, according to the annual count.

The state’s count of 881,464 students enrolled in public schools was 1,800 fewer than in October 2022, a 0.20% decrease.

The last time Colorado’s public school enrollment was that low was 2013 when 876,999 students were counted, according to Chalkbeat.

Colorado’s school enrollment has experienced a downward trend in three of the past four years.

The largest overall grade decrease in 2023 occurred in the first grade, which declined nearly 4% or 2,478 students when compared to first graders in 2022.

Kindergarten saw 1,068 fewer students than in 2022 for a 1.79% decrease.

State Demographer Elizabeth Garner told the State Board of Education last week that the decline in enrollment is due partly to decreasing birth rates, but also to a slowdown in migration and mobility, Chalkbeat reported.

“We are forecasting that total school-age population to decline basically through 2028-2029, then start to increase, but not get back to levels that we saw in 2019 until about 2035,” Garner said.

The trend of enrollment decline is statewide.

“Forty-three of the 64 counties had an absolute decline in the under-18 population over the last decade,” Garner said. “It doesn’t matter where you were — Eastern Plains, San Luis Valley, West Slope, Denver metro.”

First grade and kindergarten saw some of the largest decreases in enrollment this year. First grade enrollment declined by 3.91%, or 2,478 students, compared with 2022. Kindergarten had 1,068 fewer students, a 1.79% drop. Eighth grade and ninth grade also had large enrollment declines.

Only five grade levels saw an increase in students compared with last year. The largest increase was among second graders, up by 5%, or more than 3,000 students.

Enrollment in charter schools decreased by 1.8% to 135,223.

Central Park Schools Pre-K-12 Enrollment/Demographics — 2018-2024

(The Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities which produces Central Park Education News, supports Central Park schools with grants.)