Photo by Rick GunnStudents crowd the hallway on the first day of Carson High School. Official numbers show the high school grew by 27 students this year, down from the 103-student growth last year.
After last year's spike in enrollment, the Carson City School District is back to nearly flat growth this year.
"Prior to last year, we had been seeing less than 1 percent growth," said Superintendent Mary Pierczynski. "We were surprised last year to have nearly 4 percent. This year bears out our predictions more closely."
Throughout the district, 8,835 students showed up for school Sept. 21, the state's official count day.
On the same day last year, 8,762 students were in attendance.
The Carson City School District will receive $4,545 for each student in class that day. The amount allotted per pupil varies from district to district.
Eagle Valley Middle School saw the largest increase this year with 30 additional students. Carson High School was in a close second with 27 more students.
However, last year the high school's population jumped up 103 students and between both middle schools there was a 151-student increase.
"We're happy we haven't lost students, but our schools are full," Pierczynski said. "We're at 98 percent capacity already. This is OK where we're at."
The smallest growth last year came at the elementary school level, with a 52-student gain between the six schools. This year enrollment dropped slightly, losing seven students.
SCHOOL POPULATIONS
School Last Year This Year Loss/Gain
Elementary 3,989 3,982 -7
Carson Middle School 1,229 1,247 18
Eagle Valley Middle School 883 913 30
Pioneer High School 94 99 5
Carson High School 2,567 2,594 27
Total 8,762 8,835 73