St. Martin school enrollment up slightly

Enrollment in St. Martin Parish public schools increased slightly this year, reversing a trend of decreasing enrollment noted in the previous three years.
Parish school systems are required to submit their enrollment to the state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education as of October 1 each year.
The total enrollment of the parish’s 16 schools amounted to 8,386 according to the report compiled by Frederick Wiltz, supervisor of child welfare and attendance.
This reflects an increase of 35 students compared to the 2013 total of 8,351.
Breaux Bridge High School remains the parish’s largest school with 853 students, up by 11 from last year.
Rounding out the top three schools are Breaux Bridge Primary, a pre-K through grade 3 school, with 801 students (up 28) and Cecilia High School with 774 (up 11).
At the opposite end of the count are Stephensville Elementary and Catahoula Elementary, pre-K through grade 8 schools. Both schools reported an increase in students, with Stephensville going from 140 last year to 150 this year, and Catahoula going from 208 to 233, the third largest increase in the parish.
The third smallest school is Breaux Bridge Jr. High (grades 7-8) with an enrollment of 235, down from 231 last year.
The Early Learning Center (pre-K though 1) in St. Martinville reported the largest student increase of 36, pushing its 2014 enrollment to 438. Breaux Bridge Primary (pre-K through 3) added 28.
Cecilia Jr. High (grades 6-8) showed the biggest drop in enrollment. This year’s count is 567, down by 51 from 2013.
The accompanying chart shows enrollment for 2013 and 2014, along with the increase or decrease for each campus.