Area schools report ups, downs in enrollment figures

By Bill Vander Weele

Sidney Herald
Published on Friday, September 4, 2009 4:51 PM MDT

Area schools received mixed results the first weeks of school as far as enrollment figures.

Savage saw its overall enrollment decline from 113 to 93.

The drop includes 32 from 46 at the high school level.

Bill Vander Weele | Sidney Herald
Students and parents arrive for the first day of school in Sidney Aug. 26.

“We lost a big class and only have three kids in the eighth grade,” Michelle Smith, activities director in Savage, said.

Looking at the preliminary figures based on the first day of school, Sidney enjoyed increases at the elementary and middle school levels.

In the elementary, Sidney has 454 students which at the same time last year was 447. The enrollment of 269 at Sidney Middle School is 19 more than at the end of last school year.

Sidney Superintendent of Schools Daniel Farr said nationally there’s a trend for people to return to their hometown. He’s hopeful the economic opportunities in the area will provide increased or consistent enrollment figures.

The bad news is that the enrollment at Sidney High School decreased from 403 to 392.

“We knew it would decrease a little bit but not a lot,” Farr said. “We knew we were going to be below 400.”

In Fairview, the elementary enrollment of 144 students is up two from last year while the high school enrollment of 110 is up by nine students.

“We saw it coming,” Fairview Superintendent of Schools Matt Schriver said. “We have a big freshmen class and only had 19 seniors last year.”

For East Fairview Elementary School, meanwhile, enrollment has increased from 46 to 49 students.

In Richey, the elementary district’s enrollment dropped slightly from 54 to 50 while the high school enrollment remained steady at 25 students.

Enrollment at Rau School dropped from 73 to 54. Brorson’s enrollment increased from seven to eight students.

Lambert’s overall enrollment is 77 compared to 78 students last year. The high school enrollment is 28 compared to 29 students last year.

“We’re hanging around the same numbers, which is good,” Lambert’s clerk Sammie Nelson said.

editor@sidneyherald.com

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