Voluntary transfers help balance enrollment

Even with a stated goal of 275 students, the Newton Community School District had trouble gaining balance in its four newly configured K-4 elementary schools.

An unexpectedly high number of kindergartners at Emerson Hough Elementary School led to district administration asking if any parents wanted to voluntarily transfer their children to other Newton schools.

At the Sept. 12 Newton Community School District Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Bob Callaghan gave an enrollment report that included a recap of successful efforts to balance kindergarten enrollment at the four K-4 elementary schools. Five families volunteered to have their children attend Aurora Heights instead of Emerson Hough, which had an unexpectedly high number of kindergartners this year.

Those five families, Callaghan said, will keep their five kindergartners — and nine total students from those families — at Aurora Heights for the duration of those students’ K-4 years.

“We felt it was a good resolution,” Callaghan said. “Everyone is excited about the opportunity. The effort to level the kindergarten enrollments at Emerson Hough and the other K-4 schools was a success.”

Emerson Hough kindergarten parents received a letter by regular mail this summer, pointing out voluntary transfers to other campuses might be honored to alleviate an imbalance.

The transfers bring the enrollment to 54 kindergartners at Aurora Heights — as of the district’s Sept. 22 enrollment report — and 59 at Emerson Hough. Thomas Jefferson Elementary has 49 and Woodrow Wilson has 56. All four elementaries in the district have three kindergarten teachers.

Aurora Heights’ nine transfers brought the school’s total enrollment to 258. Emerson Hough is at 256. Thomas Jefferson is at 246 and Woodrow Wilson has 289.

The goal enrollment was 275 for each of the four schools during last year’s redistricting forums used to get public input on attendance zones, using last year’s data and projections. Those projections included expected enrollment growth for the Emerson Hough zone in the years ahead.

Callaghan did not delve into any possible reasons for either the ninety of 2016 Emerson Hough kindergartners or overall K-4 school enrollments during his Sept. 12 report. Each spring, the district hosts a kindergarten “roundup” to help gauge the numbers and development of the next year’s incoming class, but school administrators never know how many students they’ll really have until registration takes place in the summer.

The NCSD board discussed transfer policies at length during a few meetings within the past year, knowing reconfiguring into four K-4 campuses would be aided by clarity and having many issues addressed. The transfer policy can be found on the district’s website.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com