The Richmond school system has reversed a 13-year trend of declining enrollments and separated itself from many urban districts, thanks to the likes of Jonathan Warlington.
As a third-grader last spring, Jonathan transferred from Providence Elementary School in Chesterfield County to Chimborazo Elementary School in Richmond's Church Hill.
His father, Leon Warlington Jr., was uneasy about the change, having heard "horror stories" about city schools and recalling his experiences at J.E.B. Stuart Elementary School and Henderson Middle School in the 1970s and early 1980s.
A year later, Warlington raves about his son's experiences and Chimborazo's staff.
"I hadn't realized Richmond Public Schools had changed," he said.
Last fall, the number of full-time students in the city school system increased over the previous year's total for the first time since 1996. The fall enrollment climbed from 22,994 in 2009 to 23,454 in 2010, according to totals released recently by the Virginia Department of Education.
Last year's enrollment was slightly less than the system's total from 1919 and less than half of what it was in 1970, after the city annexed about 16.5 square miles of Chesterfield.
The previous year-to-year jump had come when the enrollment went from 26,974 in 1995 to 27,872 in 1996.
Richmond's increase comes as public school enrollments in Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties declined slightly and enrollment in many urban school systems across the country continues to fall.
"I'd say, in general, it bucks the trend because a lot of the old, city systems on the East Coast and Midwest are losing students," said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools. "Richmond's enrollment is a very good sign."
The Richmond school system is a member of the Washington-based advocacy group for 65 large city school districts.
Richmond Superintendent Yvonne W. Brandon points to a number of factors as driving the increase, including a campaign to promote the system to families, excitement over plans for school construction, advancements in test scores and the opening of the city's first charter school.
She and others also cite the national recession, which may have kept families from being able to afford private schools or to move to enroll their children in county schools.
"I think the economy has helped people look at us as a viable choice," she said.
And, with census data showing Richmond's population on the rise after decades of declines, "that gives us a great foundation for hoping our projections will go in the same direction," she said.
A growing enrollment is more than a symbolic boost for the system. The recent increase of 460 students would represent about $1.9 million in additional support from the state based on per-pupil funding rates from fiscal 2009-10.
Brandon said officials have been working hard to correct misperceptions that the city school system lacks certain advanced placement and dual-enrollment courses and other programs.
"People just didn't have a clear picture of our offerings in Richmond Public Schools," she said. "Our job to emphasize those critical elements was one that we took on with gusto."
Across the system, more than half of the city's 48 schools and centers saw more students on their rolls from 2009 to 2010.
The ranks of growing schools included Blackwell Elementary (an increase of 120 students), Southampton Elementary (68), and George W. Carver Elementary (64), Martin Luther King Jr. Middle (64) and Lucille M. Brown Middle (26), and George Wythe High (21) and Armstrong High (6).
Blackwell Elementary's principal, Conrad Davis III, said he and his staff have worked to promote school pride and relationships with students and their families.
In late summer the past two years, several dozen teachers and staff members have put on their Blackwell T-shirts and toured the community to build excitement for the school year. Davis said that interest continued to build as the school met federal achievement benchmarks last year.
"I think it gives us credibility," he said. "People are seeing us as more than a school. They're seeing it as a good place to send your kids."
The Richmond school system has worked hard to raise its academic performance and to change negative perceptions that tag many urban districts, said Tom Shields, director of the Center for Leadership in Education at the University of Richmond. He added that the recession has likely kept some families from bolting to the counties, but he also suggested that, for some, moving might not carry the perceived advantage that it once did.
Increasingly, the racial and economic mix in the older, inner suburbs of Chesterfield and Henrico is mirroring the city's.
"There's a leveling effect that's going on here," Shields said.
Lynda and Mark Perry were looking for a different educational experience for their daughter, Hallie, after she was homeschooled last year as a first-grader and attended private school as a kindergartner.
Hallie ended up securing a spot in Richmond's first charter school. The Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts opened in August in temporary space at Woodland Heights Baptist Church.
The school appealed to the Perrys because of its small classes, emphasis on science and art, diversity and use of Forest Hill Park as an extended classroom.
Lynda Perry, who graduated from Richmond's Huguenot High School in 1975, said she's not sure where Hallie would be if Patrick Henry wasn't an option, perhaps at her neighborhood school of J.B. Fisher Elementary.
"We were attracted more to a different approach to education than the traditional," she said.
Brandon said Patrick Henry — Virginia's first elementary charter school — has attracted families to the school system, as has the system's consolidated preschool learning centers.
With the system increasing its focus on middle schools, some parents have urged the School Board to expand the International Baccalaureate program at Brown as a way to attract and retain students. Brandon said that would require significant planning and coordination, but she welcomes the interest.
"We're very pleased with seeing how the community is embracing Richmond Public Schools and supporting us," she said.
(804) 649-6911
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement