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Chicago Public Faculties is on observe to see an increase in its official scholar enrollment this yr, in keeping with preliminary information revealed Thursday.
Greater than 324,000 college students had been enrolled as of the fifteenth day of college in comparison with the identical time final yr – a rise of just about 2,800 college students, in keeping with information Bogdana Chkoumbova, chief schooling officer for CPS, shared throughout Thursday’s Board of Training assembly.
The district sometimes makes use of enrollment and demographics on the twentieth day of college because the official information for the varsity yr. If the numbers shared Thursday maintain or enhance, CPS could have seen two consecutive years of modest rises in its enrollment — after greater than a decade of declines.
Chicago Public Faculties is the nation’s fourth largest district. It had been the third largest district within the nation, however misplaced that title in 2022, as enrollment continued to dip.
Enrollment might shift as the varsity yr progresses, corresponding to if households transfer. By Might of the final college yr, enrollment had grown by roughly 7,000 college students, rising to a complete of greater than 328,000 college students in CPS faculties, in keeping with a Chalkbeat evaluation of preliminary enrollment information.
Many of the enhance officers have seen lately is in grades Ok-5, which noticed a 2% enhance in comparison with the beginning of final college yr, whereas different grades remained comparatively flat.
The share of Black college students dropped by 1.3% – the one main scholar group by race to see a lower. Hispanic college students noticed the most important enhance, by 1.6%. Amongst completely different scholar teams by want and revenue stage, the most important enhance has been amongst English language learners, who grew by greater than 12% in comparison with this time final yr, Chkoumbova mentioned.
That might be linked, not less than partially, to a rise in migrant college students who’ve settled in Chicago. Many colleges enrolled extra English language learners over the course of final yr as migrant households arrived in Chicago. A lot of these households settled in majority Black, low-income neighborhoods the place faculties had not beforehand arrange bilingual packages.
Chkoumbova mentioned it’s laborious to pinpoint one motive for the rising enrollment, on condition that it’s rising throughout most scholar teams. However the rise within the early grades is on development with final yr, she mentioned.
The variety of college students with disabilities, those that are unhoused, and people residing in low-income households additionally went up. Notably, the variety of unhoused college students – about 10,900 – elevated by slightly below 3%, after a greater than 50% enhance final college yr.
Districts throughout the nation have seen dips in public college enrollment, which have turn into extra pronounced lately after the pandemic. In Chicago, the change has been attributed to dropping start charges and folks leaving the town during the last decade, together with Black households. Inhabitants shifts have additionally impacted the demographics of the town.
Chkoumbova additionally mentioned attendance is up by .7%, to virtually 93%, a modest enhance however one which comes after nearly no change final yr and a battle because the pandemic with persistent absenteeism.
In a letter to households Friday, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez mentioned rising attendance is “essential, as a result of we all know that attendance might be an indicator of how related college students really feel to their college communities.”
The district’s lately accredited five-year strategic plan units a objective to scale back persistent absenteeism – when a scholar is absent for 10 or extra college days – by 15%.
Reema Amin is a reporter protecting Chicago Public Faculties. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org .
