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Enrollment

Monthly Enrollment

The official headcount of students for any given school year is taken on the last school day of each month. The statistics are listed by grade in each school.

2022-23 School Year

2021-22 School Year

2020-21 School Year

2019-20 School Year

2018-19 School Year

For data for earlier years, contact engage@apsva.us.

Class Size Report

Information about class sizes within Arlington is reported annually. All data reported in each year’s report reflects the official September 30 enrollment.

Projections

MONITORING ENROLLMENT AND PROJECTIONS

Arlington Public Schools monitors student enrollment and assesses the need for capacity in our schools on an ongoing basis. Several APS reports are produced annually to provide an estimate of student enrollment and insight into capacity needs for the future. The process of projecting student enrollment is fluid and dynamic, reflecting changes in County birth rates, housing development, migration, and other criteria that factor into the projections process. The enrollment and projection reports are used for planning purposes to ensure sufficient capacity, budget, staffing, and other resources to meet student needs.

Reporting Timeline

APS produces reports throughout the year to monitor our evolving enrollment and capacity needs; the table below lists these reports and provides a timeline.

Planning Tools for Student Enrollment, Projection and Capacity

Report Name Report Content Primary Uses  Most Recent
Fall 2022 10-Year Enrollment Projections Report
  • Annual total school projections
  • Reflects projected enrollment only
  • Does not include information on existing or planned capacity
  • Used to prepare the Superintendent’s recommended budget for the upcoming school year, including staffing for schools
NEWFall 2022 10-Year Enrollment Projections Report (2023 to 2032)

Narrated Presentation on the Context and Factors in the Fall 2021 Enrollment Projections (YouTube Video)

Enrollment Management Plan (formerly the Superintendent’s Annual Update) The details in this report are framed around the following tools that APS uses to address near-term capacity changes:

  • Adding relocatable classrooms
  • Offering transfers to neighborhood schools that have space for additional students
  • Increasing or decreasing the number of students or classes accepted via the lottery at each of the option schools/programs
  • Moving programs
  • Changing how classrooms are used (i.e., converting computer labs to classrooms)
  • Intended to be a one-stop resource that communicates what is in place currently to address enrollment growth, and the plans for continuous improvements to the process for addressing near-term capacity needs
  • This report is published following any Fall boundary changes
 

Enrollment Management Plan 2023

Capacity Utilization Tables
Capacity utilization measures the extent that school buildings are occupied by comparing actual and projected PreK to Grade 12 student enrollment to the permanent seat capacity at each school. The purpose of the capacity utilization table is to show projected seat availability by school and by year for the next decade. This data helps APS to assess capacity needs and the type of solution (capital or non‐capital) to accommodate students.  

Capacity Utilization Tables, School Years 2023-24 to 2032-33

The Capacity Utilization Tables were upated July 2023

2023 Pre-CIP Report
  • Previously known as the Arlington Facilities and Student Accommodation Plan (AFSAP)
  • Offers an overview of projected enrollment by school level
  • Compares current and planned capacity with enrollment projections
  • Provides a comprehensive look at student enrollment and building capacity
  • Used to inform the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)
2023 Pre-CIP Report
September Enrollment Report
  • Actual School Enrollment numbers on the last day of September each year
  • Serves as a snapshot of the number of students currently enrolled in each school
  • Student record collection for reporting to the Virginia Dept. of Education
See Monthly Enrollment, above
Spring 1-Year Projection Update
  • Uses January enrollment data to update projections for following year
  • Reflects the lottery seat assignments, targeted transfers, neighborhood transfers, and PreK moves determined in the Enrollment Management Plan
  • Does not include information on existing or planned capacity
  • Used for updating the budget for the next fiscal year
  • Helps allocate staffing and resources for upcoming school year

 

10-Year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)
  • Addresses future facility needs, including new facilities, additions and renewals of existing schools
  • Used to plan for major and minor construction needs, and major repairs of facilities
  • Serves as financial planning and project planning document for a 10-year period
10-Year Capital Improvement Plan

ANALYZING ENROLLMENT AND PROJECTIONS

Fall 2022 10-Year Enrollment Projections Report (2023 to 2032)

This report was published in December 2022. The Annual Enrollment Projections Report:

  • includes the Fall 2022 10-Year Projection Tables
  • explains data collection and related assumptions used to produce the projections, and provides the methodology which has been updated yearly since the Fall 2019 projections to incorporate assumptions provided by Arlington County government, including a forecast of births and residential development

A narrated presentation on the context and factors considered in last year’s enrollment projections is available at, Fall 2021 Enrollment Projections is available (YouTube Video).

Superintendent’s 2022 Annual Update

The Superintendent’s 2022 Annual Update:

  • focuses on addressing near-term capacity needs
  • provides a one-stop resource that communicates what is in place currently to address enrollment growth
  • plans for continuous improvements to the process for addressing near-term capacity needs

Arlington Facilities and Student Accommodation Plan (AFSAP)

This report was published in Fall 2019, the AFSAP:

  • offers an overview of projected enrollment by school level
  • compares current and planned capacity with enrollment projections
  • used to inform the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)

Fall 2020 3-Year Enrollment Projections Report (2021 to 2023)

This report was published January 2021 for the 2021 to 2023 school years. The Fall Projection Tables:

  • use data from the September Enrollment Report (see Monthly Enrollment, above);
  • provide one table for each projected school year that shows annual projected enrollment by grade within existing schools; and
  • reflect, unless otherwise noted:
    • existing school facilities in the September Enrollment Report, and
    • boundary and other policy changes completed during the previous school year
  • among the other data used in the enrollment projections are Student Generation Rates (see Attachment C of report)

September Enrollment Report

This report was most recently published in Fall 2020. Every month, APS produces an enrollment report (see Monthly Enrollment, above) that provides a snapshot of the official headcount of students on the last day of that month throughout the school year. The September Enrollment Report:

  • provides the official count of students enrolled in APS as of the last school day in September; and
  • is the main data source for enrollment projections.

Spring 1-Year Projections for the 2023-24 School Year

This report was most recently published Spring 2023, for the 2023-24 school year. The Spring 1-Year Projection Update:

  • uses the January 2023 enrollment report to update the projections for the next school year;
  • reflects the lottery seat assignments, targeted transfers, neighborhood transfers, and PreK moves determined in the Enrollment Management Plan
  • is used to prepare the budget for the next fiscal year; and
  • helps APS more accurately allocate staffing and other resources for the next fiscal year’s budget

MANAGING ENROLLMENT GROWTH AND PROJECTIONS

Several tools help APS meet the short- and long-term needs of enrollment growth. These include:

Note: Capital Improvement Projects that are under construction or are in the planning process to add seats at all school levels in the next decade are not reflected in the enrollment projections.  Those reports reflect only enrollment and capacity use of existing facilities.

Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Development Cycle Timeline

 

Enrollment Management Plan

The details in this report are framed around the following tools that APS uses to address near-term capacity changes:

  • Adding relocatable classrooms
  • Offering transfers to neighborhood schools that have space for additional students
  • Increasing or decreasing the number of students or classes accepted via the lottery at each of the option schools/programs
  • Moving programs
  • Changing how classrooms are used (i.e., converting computer labs to classrooms)

Intended to be a one-stop resource that communicates what is in place currently to address enrollment growth, and the plans for continuous improvements to the process for addressing near-term capacity needs

  • This report is published following any Fall boundary changes

Enrollment Management Plan 2023

Pupil Transfer Report

This report provides information about student transfers within Arlington in a school year. A transfer student is a student who attends a school, but does not reside within that school’s boundaries, or one who attends a school that does not have an attendance area, that is, it is not a neighborhood school. Factors which affect the number of transfers allowed are the previous September 30 membership, and projected enrollment.According to School Board Policy J-5.3.31, most Arlington schools may accept transfers as long as the number of transfers does not exceed five percent based on the previous September 30 membership. In this report, these schools are referred to as neighborhood schools.

For data older than 2015-16, please email engage@apsva.us.

For information on neighborhood transfers, targeted transfers and option school transfers, please visit Options & Transfers Application Data.

Elementary - Student:Teacher Ratio

This report provides information about school-wide student:teacher ratios at APS Elementary Schools as required in the Virginia Standards of Quality (SOQ). This report will be produced and posted annually, on or before January 1.

Secondary Enrollment

The official headcount of students for any given school year is taken on the last school day of each month. Secondary Program Enrollment is based on the official headcount and is listed by grade in each school.

2022-23 School Year

2021-22 School Year

How Class Sizes Are Balanced

Projecting the number of students who will attend school in an upcoming year is extremely important. Student enrollment projections are vital in the planning of class sizes, teacher assignments, room assignments and acquisition of materials for those classes. When school begins in September, we often see slight changes in our actual enrollment numbers when compared to what had been projected. Students who were expected at a school may have moved out of the area or more students than anticipated may have moved into a neighborhood school area. These and other variances in our ever-changing community may require us to reexamine staffing to ensure that our teaching staff is utilized in the best and most balanced way possible. The procedure to balance classes begins as early as February, about seven months before the start of the upcoming school year. The following is a summary of the process:

February

Spring enrollment projections are reviewed. Principals provide feedback regarding the projected number of students estimated for the upcoming school year. Preliminary staffing allocations, including special education and English as a Second Language/High Intensity Language Training (ESOL/HILT), are forwarded to principals and Senior Staff.

March

Staffing allocations for the upcoming school year are determined and forwarded to principals and Senior Staff.

April

Principals work with staff and parents in reaffirming the projected number of students who will be returning to school in Arlington for the upcoming school year.

June-August

Principals’ requests for reallocation of staff, based on changes, special needs or special circumstances, are considered by Senior Staff. Special staffing requests are considered weekly, reviewing information provided by principals and other staff to determine staffing levels and areas where staff may need to be increased or reduced. Aspects of the process include:

  • Personnel Services and Administrative Services staff members visit with school staff to review staffing allocations. Student Services staff assist in determining staffing needs in Special Education.
  • Finance staff determine staffing allocations in all areas based on enrollment and the approved planning factors for each grade level and curriculum area.
  • Facilities and Operations staff works with schools to provide enrollment projections and make recommendations regarding space needs at the individual schools.
  • Division of Instruction staff assists to review and make staff recommendations in program areas such as ESOL/HILT, Language Arts and Title I.

September

The actual number of students enrolled are examined twice in September – on the seventh day of classes and on September 30.

October

Based on the actual enrollment figures of September 30, staff are moved when class sizes are extremely low in one school and when there is a need for a comparable position in another school. Enrollment projections, actual enrollment figures, class sizes and the impact of a move on the students, the school and the overall program are some of the factors considered when teachers are moved. The Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Services works with principals and teachers in coordinating any necessary reassignments. The Assistant Superintendent of Student Services works with Personnel Services when special education teachers and/or assistants need to be reassigned.

Ongoing

Changes in staffing allocations are examined continually throughout the school year. The impact of new students who are enrolled throughout the year is considered regularly, and staff are added to accommodate these changes as needed.

Enrollment Projections and Capacity Utilization - ARCHIVES

ARCHIVED – Superintendent’s Annual Update Report

ARCHIVED – Fall 10-Year Projection Tables

ARCHIVED – Annual Enrollment Projections Report

ARCHIVED – Student Generation Rates

ARCHIVED – Spring 1-Year Projection Update

ARCHIVED Capacity Utilization Report