More than 50 new students join Steamboat Springs School District following winter break
Teresa Ristow
Students by campus
Soda Creek Elementary, 573
Strawberry Park Elementary, 483
Steamboat Springs Middle School, 615
Steamboat Springs High School, 757
Yampa Valley High School, 23
North Routt Community Charter School, 93
Total, 2,544
Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs School District welcomed 54 new students from 13 states and five countries during a larger-than-normal enrollment boost following winter break.
District officials reported Friday that, of the new students, six are in preschool, 18 are in elementary school, 11 are in middle school and 19 are in high school.
More than half the new students are offset by students who have left the district during the past three months, but district enrollment has still increased since Oct. 5, when school districts across the state reported enrollment in order to collect state per-pupil funding.
The district now has 2,544 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, up from 2,526 reported in October.
"We received at least one student at every grade level, from preschool through 12th grade," said Superintendent Brad Meeks. "We're also aware of a couple other students that picked up enrollment packets that aren't part of these numbers yet. So we may have more than 54."
Meeks said the most significant increases included eight new ninth-grade students, and six new students each in third and seventh grade.
Meeks said he wasn't aware of any significant impacts the new students were having on any particular classroom's capacity.
Families moving during winter break and many new students enrolling in the district following the break is not unusual, Meeks said, though this year's influx of students is more significant than in recent years.
Last year, closer to 30 new students joined the district after winter break, Meeks estimated, including 13 new students at Strawberry Park Elementary on the first day back to class.
Because the students are joining the district after the October enrollment count, the district receives no additional funding to serve the students. As part of the same funding rules, the district is able to keep money for students who were attending the district in early October but have since left.
The Hayden School District was also buoyed by a boost of 10 new students following winter break, reporting 432 students in preschool through 12th grade across the district, up from 416 in early October. Enrollment numbers for only kindergarten through 12th grade in Hayden were not immediately available.
The South Routt district did not see an enrollment increase following winter break, and the district enrollment had increased by only one student since October, to 328 students as of Friday.
To reach Teresa Ristow, call 970-871-4206, email tristow@SteamboatToday.com or follow her on Twitter @TeresaRistow
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