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Kenmare School sees highest enrollment numbers in five years

Kenmare schools opened the 2009-2010 school calendar with the highest enrollment numbers seen in five years. Teachers welcomed 290 students to their classes, an increase of 16 students from first-day enrollment totals last year.

8/26/09 (Wed)

By Caroline Downs

 

Kenmare schools opened the 2009-2010 school calendar with the highest enrollment numbers seen in five years. Teachers welcomed 290 students to their classes, an increase of 16 students from first-day enrollment totals last year.

 

Fourteen new students registered in grades 1-6, with 24 kids beginning school as kindergarten students. The new kindergartners make up the largest kindergarten class since the 1998-1999 school year, when 26 students enrolled in that grade. Superintendent and elementary principal Duane Mueller noted aide Sue Rodin will devote her time to the class, assisting teacher Jean Barnhart.

 

The smallest kindergarten class in the district started school during the 2003-2004 academic year with 12 students. That class, now sixth graders, has 14 students to begin the 2009-2010 year.

 

First grade welcomed three new students, second grade has five new faces, fourth grade has four new students, and the fifth and sixth grades each added another student. The fifth grade class remains the largest elementary group, with 27 students now divided between a fifth grade class taught by Terese Skjordal and a combination fifth and sixth grade class taught by Donna Schmit.

 

The third grade class has also been divided to better address the students’ learning needs, with 24 children taught by Marla Jensen and Merry Feldman.

 

Total enrollment for Kenmare Elementary School is 152 students. Mueller said that extra textbooks and desks were ordered before school started in anticipation of additional children moving into the district. “Those should be in any day now,” he said.

 

Five new students joined the junior high classes at Kenmare High School, with two students added to the seventh grade roster and three to the eighth grade list. The eighth grade class is the largest in the district, with 33 students. Total junior high enrollment is 53 students.

 

The freshman and senior classes remained stable, but two new students joined the sophomore class and three more enrolled as juniors. The high school was the only entity in the district to show a decrease in enrollment, with grades 9 through 12 at 85 students, compared to 91 on opening day last August.

 

The seniors have started their year as the Class of 2010 with 23 students working to fulfill their high school graduation requirements.

 

“We’re off to a good start, with our new staff and new students,” said Mueller. “It’s all going better than anticipated.”