High School Enrollment Dips, Even As Peabody's Population Rises

PEABODY, MA — Enrollment at Peabody Veteran's Memorial High School is 1,436 this year, down 21 percent since 2012, according to statistics filed with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The drop comes even as Peabody's overall population grew two percent in the same time period. School officials blame at least part of the drop on students opting to attend the Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School in Danvers, which opened in 2014.

"The decline is, in part, due to the opening of Essex Tech, which draws students from the Higgins Middle School," Superintendent Cara Murtagh told the Daily Item, which first reported this story. Her comments were echoed by Mayor Ted Bettencourt, who also chairs the school committee.

For more on this story, see the Daily Item.