Lyons Township High Enrollment Lowest In Years

LA GRANGE, IL – Lyons Township High School's enrollment remains historically low.

At Monday's school board meeting, Superintendent Brian Waterman reported current enrollment at 3,719, which is the lowest in at least seven years.

A year ago, enrollment was reported at 3,770.

Since 2017, the number has been generally falling. The September numbers in the pre-pandemic years of 2018 and 2019 were 4,050 and 3,990, respectively.

At the meeting, Waterman said this year's enrollment is slightly below a demographic consultant's projected enrollment. In late 2022, consultant John Kasarda predicted enrollment would be 3,849 this school year.

Kasarda expected enrollment to bottom out at 3,736 in 2027-28 and gradually rise to 3,905 in 2036-37.

Enrollment at the school was above 5,000 in the 1970s.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the school saw so much growth that it bought 70 acres of wooded land in Willow Springs for a planned third campus. But that never happened because enrollment leveled out.

Now, the school is considering selling the land – the subject of a debate over the last couple of years.