Influx of First-Graders Crams East Penn Classrooms

It seems that the bad press the has been getting lately is all the first grade’s fault.

Or, more specifically, the fault of 83 first grade students who began school in East Penn at the start of the 2011-2012 school year who were not enrolled in East Penn kindergarten classes at the end of the 2010-2011 school year.

At least, that’s the most relevant fact to emerge from an otherwise humdrum report on East Penn enrollment figures presented to the East Penn Board of School Directors by Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger at Monday night’s school board meeting.

“We got a lot of kids we just weren’t expecting,” Seidenberger told the board. “It was very surprising to us.”

Those new East Penn first graders were likely enrolled in all-day kindergarten programs at day care centers and other private schools, Seidenberger said, adding that the administration’s next step is to “dig deep into the data.”

“When you look at data, it’s not just about numbers,” he explained. “It’s about trying to find patterns.”

Elementary school class size figures are most problemmatic at , and elementary schools, according to Seidenberger's report.

Ironically, Seidenberger’s enrollment report said that the overall student population in East Penn has been relatively stable over the last few school years, with some grades even having fewer students.

Seidenberger characterized enrollment figures at the high school and the elementary schools as being pretty manageable, admitting that it’s the middle school level where the real challenges lie.

“The high school is not in bad shape at all,” he said. “We may need to resituate some kids at certain elementary schools. We are going to really have to take a look at where we are in certain neighborhoods.

“(The middle school level) is the most complex area to work in since we do work in teams,” he said.

Approximately 75-90 middle school students are assigned to three-teacher teams at both and . Class sizes are a bigger issue at Eyer than at LMMS, according to the numbers in Seidenberger’s report.

The enrollment data shared at Monday night’s meeting will be made available on the East Penn School District Web site, Seidenberger said.