Ankeny Ranks Among Top Iowa School Districts for Enrollment Gains This Year

The Ankeny school district is among the top in the state seeing increased enrollment numbers from last school year to the current one, according to a report released today by the Iowa Department of Education.

The certified enrollment report said the number of students who enrolled in Iowa’s public schools for the 2012-13 school year increased significantly from the year before. This is the first significant enrollment increase for Iowa’s public schools in 17 years, although overall enrollment has declined over the past five years. Enrollment peaked in the 1972-73 school year, with 645,000 students.

In Ankeny, the district has 9,386 students enrolled currently, an increase of 422 children from the 2011-12 school year's enrollment of 8,964. The district is third in the state for the biggest increase in student enrollment.

Waukee school district topped the list. It saw an increase of 610 children from the 2011-12 school year's enrollment of 7,111. Right behind Waukee was the Des Moines district, which gained 516 students this year.

The rate of growth is nothing new for the Ankeny district. According to the state, over the past five school years Ankeny has seen an 18 percent enrollment increase, from 7,984 students to the current 9,386.

Enrollment is not expected to slow. Projections show the district topping 13,000 students in the next 10 years.

To keep pace with the growth, the district has opened several new buildings in recent years, and facilities discussions continue today. This fall, Ankeny Centennial High School will open as well as the second phase of construction on Southview Middle School.

A bond referendum will go before the public in February to finance the district's tenth elementary school.

Other stories on Ankeny Schools growth:

REPLAY: Coverage of the Ankeny School District's Public Forum on Elementary 10

Ankeny School Board Sets Date for $15.9 Million Bond Referendum

A total of 476,245 students in kindergarten through 12^th grade enrolled in public schools statewide in the 2012-13 school year. That represents an increase of 0.6 percent, or 2,741 students, from the 2011-12 school year. The growth is mostly in Iowa's urban and suburban districts, while the rural parts of the state continue to lose enrollment.

The statewide enrollment increase is due in part to an upsurge in birth rates from 2003 to 2008, the release said. Birth rates spiked in 2007 but have decreased in recent years.

“This statewide increase is refreshing news for Iowa after years of declining enrollment. However, the reality is that this increase most likely is temporary,” said Jay Pennington, chief of the Iowa Department of Education’s Bureau of Information and Analysis. “We see pockets of enrollment growth in the urban and suburban areas of the state, while the long-term trends show rural areas continue to experience declining enrollment,” Pennington said.

About half of Iowa’s 348 school districts reported an enrollment increase, while the other half reported a decrease in enrollment from the year before. 

West Sioux, Moulton-Udell and Waukee reported the largest one-year percentage increases of 10 percent for West Sioux, and 9 percent for both Waukee and Moulton-Udell.