The official tally of students enrolled in Harvard schools this year is 1,120, from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. That’s 23 fewer students than a year ago but still 62 more than predicted by a 2012 study on declining enrollment.
Superintendent Linda Dwight, who reported the numbers to the School Committee Tuesday night, said that enrollment is down by 25 students at the Bromfield School, but numbers at Hildreth Elementary School show a slight increase, most of which comes in first and second grades. Dwight has said in the past that these rising enrollments at the lower grades will eventually carry through to an upturn at Bromfield as well.
Dwight said more families seem to be moving into Harvard after their children have already begun school and are entering higher grades. She said she expects overall enrollment to return to earlier levels when the 124 new housing units currently under construction in Devens are occupied. A decade ago Harvard schools had an enrollment of 1,307, or about 12 more students per grade level than now.
The 2012 report that predicted a long-term decline in enrollment because of falling birth rates was written while local property values were still in the doldrums after the 2008 economic downturn, perhaps discouraging some empty-nesters from selling their homes.
