1 In 3 Wilmington Middle-Schoolers Leave District After 8th Grade

WILMINGTON, MA -- Wilmington Public Schools have lost 204 potential high school students over the past two years, with those students leaving the district after the eighth grade to got to private schools and technical high schools. The totals amount to a third of the 610 students that graduated Wilmington Middle School in 2017 and 2018 and reflect a broader trend of declining enrollment across the entire district.

Superintendent Glenn Brand presented the enrollment data to the Wilmington School Committee earlier this month. Of the 106 eighth-graders that left the district after the 2017-18 school year, 80 enrolled in Shawsheen Technical High School, 25 left for private schools and one enrolled in Minuteman Technical High School.

Brand, who is in his first year as superintendent, said the loss of students in eighth grade was a concern that had been expressed often in his first few months on the job.

"I’ve heard a fair amount of worry or concern in the community about how many students are leaving at the end of eighth grade," he said. "We are losing a good number of students to a variety of other placements."

Enrollment for the entire district for 2018-19 is 3,267, down 132 students, or 3.9%, from 3,399 last year. School Committee member Jennifer Bryson suggested conducting exit interviews with parents who pull their students from the district as part of Brand's plan to "dig in" to the data.

"I’m mostly curious about why folks are leaving for private. I’d love to know in an exit interview why they’re making that choice," she said.

Subscribe to Wilmington Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Patch file photo via Shutterstock.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).