Area schools open year on positive note

First-day numbers generally stable for local districts
Schools in the area reopened recently. First-day numbers, while not a definitive reflection of the final pupil count for the school year, offered insights into direction for the coming year.
Aurora
The Aurora School District is enjoying quite an increase over last year’s student body numbers, which were already healthy. At the beginning of the 2023 school year, the district had 1,741 students. Just one year later, Aurora boasts an increase of 130 youngsters for a total of 1,871 students.
The population breakdown follows: Pate Early Learning Center - 492; Robinson Elementary - 547; Aurora Junior High - 280; and Aurora High School- 568.
Miller
The northern Lawrence County school district of Miller also saw a welcome bump in student population numbers. In 2023, the Cardinal community had a total student head count of 560 youths, while this year’s number is 578. The 18 student increase is a welcome development in the R-2 district, which is currently in the process of adding on to the campus which will then accommodate even more students.
Monett
Monett began the school year with one of the lowest numbers in the past 15 years. Not counting the pre-kindergarten Early Childhood tally of 125 on the first day, student numbers came to 2,206. Prior to the COVID pandemic, student counts ran higher than that from 2011 to 2019, and in 2020, counting the 332 students attending virtually, the count was 2,232.
Kindergarten numbers, the barometer of student growth for the next 12 years, held fairly steady at 156, while this year’s first graders, advancing from that class a year ago, numbered 169. Numbers at Monett Elementary remained solid at 676, reflecting little change. The intermediate school numbers fall with a smaller fifth grade class of 140. The middle school grew a bit with a larger seventh grade class of 174, one fewer than the eighth graders.
The high school will have a comfortable number at 713, well below the capacity target of 800 that threatened to overrun the district before the new middle school was built.
Mt. Vernon
The Mt. Vernon R-5 School District was one of the handful of districts nearby who saw a decrease—although small—in student body population in a year-over-year comparison. This time last year, their schools combined for a total of 1,454 students enrolled. In 2024, the early-on numbers show a hair fewer, at 1,448 students; a number that will ultimately fluctuate throughout the year.
Pierce City
At the Pierce City School District, numbers stayed strong at 688, close to the 693 in 2019. Kindergarten had almost the smallest class size on the first day at 48, though second and third grades were both slightly smaller. Central Elementary had 299 students, with 38 in the pre-kindergarten.
Pierce City’s middle school has the largest class of the year, with 64 in the seventh grade. Bookending that building are 49 eighth graders and 52 sixth graders. The high school has 224, with the second largest class of the year in the juniors with 60, one more than the freshmen. This year’s graduating group started the year with 55.
Superintendent Matt Street, in his first year at the helm of the district, observed, “Our first day of school went incredibly well and set a positive tone for the rest of the year. The energy from students and staff was amazing, and everyone quickly got into the swing of things. It was a strong start to what will be an incredible year of learning, growth, and achievement.”
Purdy
Numbers picked up slightly at Purdy, with 599 on the first day. For 15 years prior to the pandemic, Purdy’s tally ran from 40 to 80 students more than that, topping out at more than 700 in 2004. The latest uptick was powered by 55 in kindergarten, the largest incoming group in several years. The elementary school, running through sixth grade, had 326. First graders have the smallest group in the district with 36, while 42 fourth graders and 43 sixth graders followed at the low end. The fifth graders had the biggest class in the entire district with 59. Pre-kindergarten started the year with 31.
The high school, counting seventh grade and up, ran from a low of 41 with the seniors, and seventh graders at a top of 51. That put the high school count at 273.
Trinity Lutheran
Enrollment for Freistatt’s Trinity Lutheran School saw a substantial bump over 2023’s beginning numbers. With 145 students now enrolled, the small district increased their student body total by 20 students, a spike of more than 15 percent over last year’s count. A good sign for the future of the respected private education operation.
Verona
Running with fairly steady numbers in recent years, Verona started the year with 287 students on the first day, down a bit more than 100 from 10 years ago. The pre-pandemic 2019-2020 school year started with 359.
With 11 in the pre-kindergarten, Verona’s forecast for future graduates mustered a slightly larger class of 14 in kindergarten. The smallest class in the elementary group of K-6 was 13 in the fourth graders. Sixth grade had the largest elementary class with 23.
Sophomores and seniors had the largest classes in the district with 27 students. Freshmen and juniors had 25, setting up a very even graduation rate for the next few years. That put 144 in the high school, compared to 203 at the start of the 2020-21 school year.
- Round Grove Christian Academy numbers were not available as of press time.