North Andover Kindergarten Enrollment Dropped Over 10% Last Year

NORTH ANDOVER, MA — North Andover public school enrollment dropped significantly from the 2019-2020 school year to the 2020-2021 year, with the biggest drops coming in the youngest grades.

The trend in North Andover reflects the pattern across much of the country, according to enrollment data collected by researchers at Stanford University.

With the district's schools operating under a hybrid learning model for much of the school year, it appears many parents of young students chose not to send their children to local public schools — opting instead for private school, homeschooling or other options.

Nationwide, kindergarten enrollment dropped nearly 10 percent from fall 2019 to fall 2020, the New York Times reported.

In Massachusetts and North Andover, kindergarten enrollment dropped even further. The district went from 322 kindergarten students in 2019-2020 to 322 in the following, a 12 percent fall. The decline statewide was about the same.

North Andover also reported a significant drop in first grade enrollment and an even larger drop-off for pre-kindergarten, where enrollment fell by more than half.

Did you take your children out of public school, or choose not to enroll them, last year? Patch would love to hear from you. Contact Christopher Huffaker at chris.huffaker@patch.com.

Some grades reported increases, but overall, district enrollment dropped from 4,667 students to 4,510 last year, the lowest number since at least 2015.

But the fall in enrollment seems to have at least partially recovered: exact numbers are not reported until October, but according to Superintendent Gregg Gilligan, the district has 4603 students as of Sept. 2021. That total is still below the pre-pandemic level, but it represents a significant rebound.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.

Disclosure: The author's sister is part of the Stanford team that collected the data for this story.