With just 10 days to go until students return to classrooms, Shelter Island School expects to welcome 50 new students. But the rise in enrollment — mostly in primary grades — isn’t likely to trigger a change in re-opening plans, a school official says.
District Director of Pupil Personnel, Data & Instruction Jennifer Rylott said Monday that the school has sufficient space for the additional pupils, without having to switch from its planned “in-person” re-opening model. Students are due back in school on September 10.
As required by New York State, the district has submitted alternative plans: a remote model that has all students engaged in distance learning and a hybrid model that has students divided into two groups, spending half their time in school and the other half in remote learning.
Last year, 194 students were enrolled in grades Pre-K(4) to 12, but 22 seniors graduated in June. The addition of 50 new expected students, includes 7 enrolled in the brand new Pre-K(3) program, and is mostly concentrated in primary grades, Rylott said. As of Monday, the total confirmed enrollment was 215, she reported to the school board.
With declining enrollment a problem across the East End, Rylott said the new families are most welcome at Shelter Island School.
“We are thankful for the enrollment,” she said.
The district must accept eligible students, who are entitled to free public education. And it has encouraged parents/guardians to make decisions as soon as possible whether the student is a Shelter Islander returning to the public school setting, or new to the Island’s year-round community.
“We are trying to get the message out,” Rylott said.
Students are eligible for enrollment if they reside on Shelter Island and meet immunization and other basic criteria. To enroll in Pre-K 3, children must be 3 by December 1, 2020; for Pre-K 4, they must be 4 by that date; and to enroll in Kindergarten, they must be 5. You can find a registration packet on the district webpage, shelterisland.k12.ny.us.
[Editor’s note: This is an update of a story and headline that included some bad math on our part and said the rise in enrollment was 25 percent. That was wrong. Enrollment is up about 11 percent over last year. Looks like we need to go back to school!]
