Enrollment at District public schools increased for the first time in 39 years, officials announced Tuesday.
Seventy-three schools across all eight wards saw enrollment shoot up this year, including a 32 percent burst at Powell Elementary, 24 percent at Hard Middle, 15 percent at Turner Elementary at Green, and 12 percent at Coolidge High.
Growth occurred mostly among the youngest students: 481 more preschool and pre-K students enrolled this year, over 2009.
“Our neighborhood public schools are becoming an increasingly attractive option for families throughout the city seeking a quality education,” Chancellor Michelle Rhee said. “We still have a long way to go, but the stabilization we saw last year and the gains we’re seeing this fall illustrate that we are indeed moving in the right direction.”
Mayor Adrian Fenty spoke alongside Rhee at a newsconference Tuesday morning, calling the “historic reversal in enrollment” proof of his and Rhee’s “hard work over the past three years.”
Fenty lost in the Democratic mayoral primary to Council Chairman Vincent Gray, a notorious critic of the power Fenty allowed his chancellor to reform the schools. After ratifying a new contract with the Washington Teachers Union over the summer, Rhee fired 241 teachers rated ineffective on evaluations and closed underperforming schools.
These actions led the teacher’s union to endorse Gray, who has not said whether he would keep Rhee on as chancellor. Rhee has also declined to comment on whether she would remain under a Gray administration.
