Sioux Falls School District up by 90 K-12 students this year, early enrollment report shows
The Sioux Falls School District had 24,406 students in its care on the fourth day of school this year, 90 higher than the initial count for the last school year, which was 24,316.
Counting Pre-K and junior kindergarten students includes 1,041 more students in the count, making the total Pre-K through 12th grade enrollment 25,447, up 129 students from last year’s count of 25,318.
Superintendent Jane Stavem said she and her colleagues in the area are still seeing a lot of growth in the city, and the district’s growth is trending upward, but “slower than anticipated in some areas.”
“It will be interesting to kind of see the whole metro area, where everybody’s enrollment comes in, given the construction that we’re seeing,” Stavem said. “We’re also looking at birth rates and things like that to look at what that might mean long-term.”
Last year's count: Early enrollment report shows Sioux Falls schools grew by 194 students this year
The enrollment report presented to the district'a school board Monday night differs from the annual enrollment headcount each district across the state takes on the last Friday of the month for the South Dakota Department of Education, which plays a role in how districts are funded.
The actual fall enrollment has always been smaller than the preliminary fall enrollment the district has taken since 2014.
According to the early enrollment report, the four elementary schools with the highest enrollments as of the fourth day of school are Discovery (833 students), R.F. Pettigrew (789 students), Hayward (672 students) and John Harris (671 students).
The highest-enrolled middle schools, in order, are Memorial (1,144 students), Ben Reifel (961 students), Patrick Henry (958 students), Edison (951 students), George McGovern (753 students), and Whittier (716 students). 52 middle school students attend other programs.
High schools in order of enrollment include Lincoln (1,901 students), Washington (1,835 students), Jefferson (1,793 students) and Roosevelt (1,744 students). 183 high school students are at Joe Foss, 76 attend other programs and 63 are at community campus.
Foundation celebrates 15 years
Also included in Monday night’s board meeting was a report about the Sioux Falls Public Schools Education Foundation as it celebrates its 15th anniversary as an organization.
The Foundation provides public school proud grants, which allow educators in the district to apply for up to $10,000 in grant money to purchase materials to give their students hands-on, immersive experiences such as programmable robots, 3D printers, pickleball equipment, musical instruments, art supplies, social emotional learning materials, farrowing pens, cardio drumming equipment, garden grow kits, automotive technology tools and more.
In the last school year, the Foundation awarded 59 grants to 91 educators. This spring, it plans to surpass the $1 million mark in overall funding through the public school proud grant program.
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Foundation endowments are managed by the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation, with the main endowment growing by more than $500,000 since 2018 and the Sue Scribner Endowment at a balance of about $210,000.
Since 2011, the Foundation has awarded 977 first-time teacher grants. It’s also held numerous teacher appreciation events, such as catered meals in school buildings, doughnut deliveries to each school in the fall, pop-up coffee bars, cupcakes during Teacher Appreciation Week and more.
The Foundation’s Student Success Fund started in 2018 and provides school social workers resources to connect children and families in crisis with basic needs, giving $14,000 to the social workers in August ($1,000 each) with funding to purchase bed bug cream, lice shampoo, clothing, emergency food assistance, school supplies, alarm clocks, winter gear and more.
The fund also helps sponsor the Native American honoring ceremony each May, open house in August and holiday meal in December.
The Foundation also installed washer and dryer sets at three schools, donated $10,000 to cover unpaid student lunch debt and purchased new furniture for the Community Engagement Center when it opened at the Axtell building.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls School District's early enrollment report up by 90 kids
