RSU 21 enrollments 'trending up,' but strategies needed to boost numbers at middle school

KENNEBUNK, Maine — Overall, student enrollments in RSU 21 are working their way back to pre-pandemic numbers, according to statistics presented at a recent School Board meeting.

“We’re trending up,” Superintendent Terri Cooper said at the board’s meeting on Oct. 17. “That’s certainly a great thing.”

Cooper and K-5 Registrar Jen Foy showed the board enrollment figures for each of the past five school years. On the eve of the pandemic, the district had 2,445 students enrolled in October 2019. A year later, that figure dipped to 2,330. And yet another year later, in October 2020, numbers fell further to 2,288.

This month, however, total student enrollment in RSU 21 stands at 2,302, according to the district.

“If you look at our COVID years ... we’re not back where we used to be, but we’re on our way up,” Cooper said.

One school in particular – the Middle School of the Kennebunks (MSK) – is facing enrollment challenges, prompting the district to strategize how best to boost recruitment there.

When it comes to actual enrollment versus maximum enrollment capacity, MSK has a gap that is roughly twice that of local elementary schools. MSK has 477 enrolled students at the moment, whereas its capacity is estimated at 600.

MSK serves students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades – the age when some families consider sending their children to Thornton Academy, a private school in Saco, and other institutions outside the district.

In her presentation, Foy acknowledged Thornton Academy “does a really great job” of trying to recruit RSU 21 students.

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t do our best to try and also recruit the students,” Foy added. “With that in mind, we’re trying to engage our students earlier.”

According to Foy, strategies include taking fourth- and fifth-graders on field trips to MSK, having MSK students present performing and fine arts shows at local elementary schools, and running an ongoing sports league with mixed-grade teams.

Forming a student ambassador club at MSK is also another idea, as is establishing a team of MSK parent ambassadors. Foy said that parents who are “on the fence,” trying to figure out where to send their children to school, could benefit from hearing from others who have chosen to send their children to MSK.

“I think that could really speak volumes,” Foy said.

More strategies: the district also will continue to promote MSK with a “hype video” and an informational pamphlet that have been created.

Also, RSU 21 is pursuing a general, district-wide strategy that includes holding regular open houses at schools, increasing social media presence, circulating more “hype” videos, and expanding swag offerings, according to Foy.

Foy also presented statistics showing how many out-of-district students there have been during the past five years. Such students live in the RSU 21 territory of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel but attend schools outside the district.

There were 337 out-of-district students in RSU 21 in 2019, again on the cusp of the pandemic. In 2020, there were 424 such students, and in 2021 there were 419. Now there are 363 – that’s 13.6% of students residing in the district, according to Foy.

School Board member Amanda Downing asked if the district is looking at the “climate” at MSK and determining if there are things that can be improved.

“There’s a reason Thornton Academy has that certain glow ... that attracts people,” Downing said. “Are we looking at our school?”

Downing asked if MSK students and families are being polled on their thoughts about the school. Cooper replied that MSK students and families are not being individually targeted for polling, but she did say a general, district-wide family survey will be distributed at the end of November.

Noting that enrollments are not at full capacity at any of the schools, School Board member Ken Levesque asked if the district actually has the space for even more students. Not wanting to see mobile classrooms someday, Levesque said the district needs to consider potential population growth as part of its strategic planning.

Cooper said the district is looking at the capabilities of its facilities.

“This is just the start of the enrollment conversation,” Cooper said, referring to that night’s presentation. “There is a lot behind this that we have to consider and plan for.”

More students are coming, Cooper said.

“When they know of a great thing ... people are going to want to be here,” Cooper said. “We need to start planning now.”

The district began addressing concerns about student enrollment at RSU 21 elementary schools in 2018, as class sizes began varying significantly and creating inequities at local elementary schools.

In 2020, at the recommendation of the district’s Enrollment Committee, the School Board updated its criteria for placing students from Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel in grades K through 5.

As a result, enrollments are now centralized, taking place in the district’s main office, instead of at the school where a student plans to attend. To maintain balance in class sizes, the district places new students in grades pre-K through 5 at one of the four RSU 21 elementary schools: Kennebunkport Consolidated School, Mildred L. Day School in Arundel, Kennebunk Elementary School, or Sea Road School in Kennebunk.

At last week’s School Board meeting, Foy said the district takes assorted criteria into account when placing students, with class sizes, school capacities, geographic locations, a child’s needs and family composition, and preferences among them.

“It’s working pretty well,” Foy said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: RSU 21 enrollments are 'trending up,' but not at Middle School of the Kennebunks