Buoyed by an expanded Preschool program and a continued trend of positive open enrollment gains, student enrollment levels at London City Schools pushed to nine-year highs this year. During the November Regular Meeting of the Board of Education, Dr. Kramer presented his annual enrollment report, which showed LCS counted 2248 students this October, just a few more than before the start of the pandemic in October of 2019. With the exception of the 2020-2021 school year, the London City School District has grown each year since at least 2013-2014, the first year of the study.
London City Schools entered into a partnership with the Madison County Board of Developmental Disabilities and the Madison County Education Service Center at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year with the hopes that Preschool opportunities at Fairhaven School would grow. This has proven to be the case as 24 more London students attend the Preschool this year compared to last. Despite the growth in Preschool, enrollment at London Elementary remains steady. This is not the case for London Middle School and London High School, which both witnessed the largest enrollments during the nine-year period.
Perhaps, the biggest influence on the positive enrollment trend was due to more resident students staying in London and more students from outside districts applying to attend district schools. One hundred and seventy more students decided to attend London Schools (and not enroll in another public school) and/or enroll from another district during the last nine years. Many of these students have entered LHS in order to take part in the district’s expanded London Unlimited and College Credit Plus programs. Since Ohio funds its school based on the number of students, this positive trend helps all students.
Based on these trends and the availability of more and more residential housing, London is expected to continue to grow in future years.
You can read Dr. Kramer’s enrollment study here.