By STEPHANIE BUNKER
Moapa Valley Progress
Despite the cloudy skies and the welcome early morning rain, the summer vacation came to a close on Monday as local children returned to school.
Children throughout the community donned their favorite new outfits and trudged back to school to meet their new teachers and greet their classmates. Another year of filling the bright young student’s minds with knowledge is now underway.
But how many students will or will not show up for school? This is a critical question for local school administrators. Registration numbers are important to the schools because it determines the school’s funding and the level at which the school is staffed with teachers.
At the end of each school year the district makes a projection on the numbers of kids expected in each school for the following year. The school administrators staff their schools at that level in hopes that the enrollment projection will be met in order to retain all their teachers. In October the school district sets aside a day known as “Count Day” to collect an official count of students for the school year and determine what staffing changes, if any, need to be made.
This year, local administrators are breathing a tentative sigh of relief as registration numbers for the Moapa Valley schools seem to be holding steady.
The enrollment at Grant Bowler Elementary also held steady this year. As of last week there were 596 students enrolled in the school, only 6 less students than at the end of the last year.
“I feel like we are staffed just right,” said Bowler Principal Shawna Jesson, “We watch the numbers pretty closely and we don’t feel like we are going to lose anyone.”
Ute V. Perkins Elementary School officials also feel comfortable in their staffing levels. The small Moapa school stayed at around 180 kids enrolled.
“Based on my experience in other buildings we are right where we need to be,” said new Perkins Principal Mary Scialabba.
Moapa Valley High School officials also feel comfortable with their registration numbers thus far. The school was projected at the end of last year to have 540 students. As of last week the enrollment was slightly above the projection by six students.
“Our numbers have come down over the last 5 or 6 years but we are right on our projection this year and may be a couple over,” said Rod Adams, the new MVHS Principal.
The enrollment numbers at W. Mack Lyon Middle School have actually dipped slightly from the end of the last school year. But Lyon Principal Ken Paul feels that the school will be still be ok in its staffing. As of last week the registration numbers for Mack Lyon are 371, which is below the ending number of 400 students at the end of the last school year.
“The last 8th grade class was a large class and the incoming 6th grade class isn’t particularly large,” Paul explained.
