Superintendent Kyle Hayden said Monday that Tonganoxie has 1,909 students enrolled in the district.

That’s up 78 students from 1,831 for the 2008-09 school year, or roughly a 4.2-percent increase.

“A 4.2-percent increase in enrollment in the midst of an economic recession is significant,” Hayden said. “We are in a prime location for growth and are very fortunate to see this in a time when many other school districts and communities are declining in enrollment.”

The state requires school districts submit enrollment numbers as of Sept. 20 to determine how much state aid each district receives.

During the past five years, enrollment has climbed by 220 students. The average grade size is 147 students for 2009-10, also the largest in the five-year period.

The breakdown of students by school shows 611 students in the high school, 605 at the middle school and 692 at the elementary school.

The largest class is 10th grade with 167 students. The smallest is second grade at 120.

The biggest jump in enrollment among the three schools in recent years has been at TES. Since the 2007-08 school year, enrollment has increased by 91 students. TMS has climbed by 26 and THS 10.

TES formerly was a K-6 school, but became a K-4 building when the middle school opened in 2007.

Hayden said Monday it’s time to again address space issues.

“With these current trends, especially in our elementary school, USD 464 and the patrons of Tonganoxie must come together to develop a facility plan which can meet our students’ immediate educational needs,” he said. “With the district-wide growth, we have no choice but to build new classrooms for our students in the very near future.”

Genesis Christian Academy

At Genesis Christian Academy in Tonganoxie, enrollment also is up. Administrator Sharon Beeman said the school has 123 students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade, as well as 62 students in preschool.

That’s an increase of 12 students, which she said was the number of students enrollment decreased by from 2007-08 to 2008-09.

“Last year the economy zapped us,” Beeman said.

Being a private school, GCA does not submit its enrollment numbers to the state because it does not receive state aid.

McLouth

The McLouth School District, meanwhile, continues to see declining enrollment.

Superintendent Jean Rush said the district was down 26 students from the previous school year.

For 2009-10, the McLouth School District’s official count is 500 students — 219 at McLouth Elementary School, 112 at McLouth Middle School and 169 and McLouth High School.

Though enrollment is down, Rush said kindergarten numbers were encouraging, in that there are 37 kindergarteners this year and there were 36 in 2008-09. That, she said, is sustainable growth.

The biggest drop-off came in the 10th grade. The previous school year there were 60 ninth-graders. This year, that class dropped in size by 13 to 47 10th-graders.

“I’m not sure why there’s a large discrepancy,” Rush said. “We’re checking on that to see what happened. We do know the economy impacted it some. And a few families were affected by foreclosures.”

Basehor-Linwood

USD 458 had growth with respect to students on campus. The district also showed, however, a decrease in its overall enrollment, including the virtual school.

The total student count, not including those students enrolled in the virtual school, is 1,872. This number is up six students from the 2008-09 school year enrollment.

Including the virtual school, the total enrollment is 2,247, which is down 10 students from last year. B-L’s virtual school has 376 students enrolled this year, down from 397 in 2008.

Enrollment totals for each school are as follows: BLHS, 591; BLMS, 290; BES, 421; Glenwood Ridge Elementary School, 287; Linwood Elementary School, 129; Sixth Grade Center, 159; Virtual School, 376.