Some schools in the Athens City system have increased enrollment while others have gone down, but Acting Superintendent Beth Patton reported Thursday during the ACS board meeting that the number of students systemwide has increased by more than 150.

“We have been preparing for this growth,” Patton said. “Our area is growing, and we are preparing for more growth in the future. We have a lot of houses being built in Athens right now.”

Records show the system currently has 4,616 enrollees compared to 4,455 last year. Patton said the 4,616 figure is “very fluid,” as students are still being enrolled or withdrawn for the school year.

According to Patton, 64% of ACS students chose to enroll in the traditional, in-class route. Though the number of online-only students has gone up this school year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Patton said ACS did not hire many new teachers for virtual classrooms.

“We have been repurposing educators who were already in the system,” she said. “We have contracted with some retired educators to help cover online students.”

Patton said it’s an exciting challenge to be hosting school with such a large virtual student body and with the social distancing and facial covering guidelines for traditional students, but she said ACS has a great team working hard each day as students and teachers acclimate.

“It was a great first week,” she said. “… We had a few glitches along the way, but we worked together. Feedback from teachers has been 100% positive; they are so glad to have students back in the building.”

Biggest change

Athens Renaissance has seen the most growth among city schools in the last year, going from 586 enrollees in August 2019 to 680 this month.

“We are excited,” said Principal Nelson Brown. “More families are learning about us, and I think the biggest reason has been word of mouth.”

The K-12 school has offered online and blended learning since 2014, and Brown and Patton believe this familiarity with the remote learning setup attracted parents who were looking to avoid traditional learning during the pandemic.

“Some students come in (to class) a few days and work at home, and some students are online only,” Brown said.

Like other schools in the district, Renaissance students started their school year this week.

“We are off to a good start,” Brown said of his school’s first week. “Right now, we are making sure everyone, especially our new families, get adjusted to their schedules, are able to find their coursework and are able to log in.”

By the numbers

While Athens Renaissance saw the largest increase in enrollment, five of the eight ACS institutions have more students now than a year ago.

Athens High and Athens Middle each saw large increases in student population. The high school is up around 60 students to 1,119, while the middle school added around 40 students to reach 954 enrollees.

Other city schools showing growth in student population were HEART Academy at Julian Newman Elementary (322 to 338) and FAME Academy at Brookhill Elementary (274 to 289).

Athens Intermediate saw the biggest decrease in enrollment this school year versus last. The school, which includes grades 4 and 5, is down from 642 to 582. SPARK Academy at Cowart Elementary and iAcademy at Athens Elementary also saw decreased enrollment, with SPARK dropping to 277 from 301 and iAcademy dropping to 337 from 359.