The Light of Christ Catholic School Division has released its enrolment numbers for 2012, with a total, across all schools, of 2,005 students, 77 more than last year.
The closure of St. George School, which had 60 students, led to the overall small bump in enrolment numbers, which administrators say the facilities are more than capable of absorbing. Staff, however, might be shuffled around as the school division deals with the variability in enrolment numbers for individual schools.
St. Peter's, EMBM and Rivier showed the smallest changes, with decreases of two and five and an increase of six students, respectively. Notre Dame lost 14 students from last year's numbers. St. Mary, Holy Family and John Paul II, however, saw larger enrolment increases of 16, 24 and 52, respectively. It is these schools that have administrators concerned about reorganization to staff.
The school division has not yet done a thorough analysis for the increase in enrolment numbers, but has offered several possible explanations for their increase, including a growing number of families on North Battleford's west side, an increase in the number of aboriginal families moving to town from nearby First Nations, an increased number of immigrant children and an increase in the number of male and female hockey players.
The pupil-to-teacher ratios (or average class sizes) are under 18 for all schools. JPII's PTR is the highest, at 17.88, and Rivier's is the lowest, at 12.83.
Of course, the numbers are not set in stone. Families can move and children can change schools. But the division paints a relatively positive picture of the school division and the city more generally. The memo on enrolment states the numbers are "very encouraging for the city overall, as it looks like the housing starts are beginning to result in increased enrolments."
