NWA enrollment up 0.9% this year

BENTONVILLE — Northwest Arkansas’ public school enrollment rose 0.9% this fall from the same time last year, led by growth in the region’s charter schools.

Benton and Washington counties’ public schools enrolled a combined 91,814 students as of Oct. 1, up from 91,037 at the same point in 2022, according to Arkansas Department of Education data. A school district’s Oct. 1 enrollment number is often cited as its official enrollment for that school year.

Bentonville had the only enrollment gain — up 2.5% to 19,137 students — of the four largest traditional school districts in Benton and Washington counties.

“It’s good, consistent growth and right on target for what we expect for the School District,” Bentonville Superintendent Debbie Jones said. “The economy is good in Bentonville. The job market is good. People want to live in Bentonville. Growth is great. Growth does present challenges for us, like everyone.”

The region’s 0.9% overall increase is low compared to what it will eventually be, Jones said, adding that she expects Northwest Arkansas schools to experience growth amid the many options parents may choose for their children.

In the previous two academic years, Northwest Arkansas’ public school enrollment growth rate was 1.7% and 1.8% respectively.

Throughout the state of Arkansas, enrollment dipped 0.3% from 476,579 last year to 475,207 this year.

Enrollment affects how much money the state sends districts. State funding for any given year is based on a district’s average K-12 enrollment in the first three quarters of the previous school year.

CENTRAL ARKANSAS

In Pulaski County, enrollment decreased in all four traditional public school districts.

The Little Rock School District recorded 19,952 pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade enrollment. Last year, the enrollment was 20,135.

In the North Little Rock School District, pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade enrollment was 7,295, down from 7,640 in 2022-23.

The Pulaski County Special School District pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade enrollment is 11,875. Last year, it was 11,787.

The Jacksonville/North Pulaski County School District pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade number is at 4,174. Last year, it was 4,248.

NWA ENROLLMENT DIPS

Fayetteville dropped 2.5%, Rogers 0.9% and Springdale was down 0.4%, according to the state figures.

“At this point, the current year enrollment numbers do not raise any concerns,” Fayetteville Superintendent John Mulford said. “The district is in the process of conducting a demographic study, which should tell us a lot about how we need to plan for the future.”

This year’s enrollment is still one of the district’s highest ever, he said, and Fayetteville doesn’t expect to see that number continue to decrease.

Rogers’ enrollment of 15,529 was about what the district expected, Superintendent Jeff Perry said.

“We created a budget based on a 15,500 enrollment, so we were very close on those projections,” Perry said. “Our numbers increased dramatically a few years ago, but now that rapid growth has plateaued to some degree. It is my belief that the current housing market makes it extremely difficult for new families to move to Rogers.”

Despite an 89-student dip, Springdale is still Arkansas’ largest school district with 21,712 students, according to the state statistics.

LEARNS ACT

Jones said her district saw no visible effect on enrollment from the LEARNS Act, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature education overhaul.

The same was true in Rogers, Perry said.

“To my knowledge, I don’t think the LEARNS Act had any significant impact on our enrollment this year,” Perry said. “We picked up a few students from other districts, and we lost a few students to other districts. We saw nothing out of the ordinary in our enrollment. Actually, this year our numbers are stabilizing. It may have an impact in the future, and we may see some movement from one school to the other, but no major impact for now.”

Mulford said there doesn’t seem to be any enrollment impact from LEARNS at this point, but it’s still early in the implementation process. LEARNS stands for literacy, empowerment, accountability, readiness, networking and safety.

Of the traditional districts in Benton and Washington counties, Farmington saw the highest percentage enrollment increase at 5.1%, rising to 2,823 students, according to the state. Superintendent Jon Laffoon said he expects the trend to continue, crediting the hard work of the district’s staff.

“Our Board of Education and City Council are both active in expanding school facilities and providing quality housing because many people are choosing to live in Farmington,” Laffoon said. “We have added new facilities at both elementary schools and our junior high school which were designed to meet the demand of the housing growth in our town. We have plans to realign grade levels and expand with a new 8-9 campus in 2026-27 as well.”

Greenland saw the biggest percentage drop, down 6.1%, to 720 students. Superintendent Andrea Martin said that wasn’t a surprise, noting that district numbers fluctuate from year to year. But Greenland usually ends the year with an increase, she said.

The total enrollment for traditional school districts in Benton and Washington counties increased 0.4% to 86,783 students.

CHARTERS

Charter school enrollment in Benton and Washington counties rose 10.3%, to 5,031 students, according to the state. That figure does not include the enrollments of virtual charter schools that draw students from across the state.

“You see just about every month a new charter pop and open up,” Jones said. “If you talk about parent choice, parents have a choice. And we respect that.”

LISA Academy, which opened a Fayetteville campus this year to go with campuses in Springdale and Rogers, saw enrollment rise 55.1% to 1,050.

Founders Classical Academy, with campuses in Bentonville and Rogers, was up 8.7% and Haas Hall Academy’s four campuses in Northwest Arkansas had an 8.6% increase; that doesn’t include Haas Hall’s Fort Smith campus that opened this year with 67 students.

Haas Hall Superintendent Martin Schoppmeyer said the academy’s “proven academic success and our rankings” fueled the enrollment rise.

In this year’s U.S. News & World Report rankings of the top public high schools in Arkansas, Haas Hall Fayetteville was ranked first, followed by Haas Hall Rogers and Haas Hall Springdale at No. 3. Haas Hall Bentonville was 17th.