Since the 2006-2007 school year, both public and private schools in Winnebago and Boone Counties have lost more than 5,500 students, 8 percent of student population.

Every fall, thousands of children in Winnebago County embark on an educational journey that will most likely include a high school diploma at some future date.

Despite a wide variety of school choices in the area, enrollment trends over the last several years have reflected the downward slide of the region’s economic health and a shifting population.

Since the 2006-2007 school year, both public and private schools in Winnebago and Boone Counties have lost more than 5,500 students, 8 percent of student population. This across-the-board loss means that the economy of our area has yet to recover from the Great Recession. According to a study on enrollment commissioned by the Rockford Public Schools in June of 2015, student population for RPS is expected to see a decrease through the 2019-20 school year. The report also points out that schools in the district are not at capacity and forecasts a similar trend in the years to come.

“There’s no silver bullet to drive student enrollment up or down,” said Todd Schmidt, RPS chief operations officer. “We expect enrollment to be mostly stable or even slightly down in the coming years, according to a recent demographer report and census data. But that data is a reflection of the city and the county, as a whole — not exclusively the district. That being said, preliminary enrollment data show a slight increase in kindergarten enrollment this school year. But it’s too early to speculate why that growth is happening.”

Although enrollment numbers for RPS paint a less than rosy picture of the district’s future, Superintendent Ehren Jarrett has garnered support and praise among parents in the district. Michele Larson and her husband Ken have two children attending RPS and see Jarrett as a welcome change from past administrators.

“As parents who are very involved with their children’s education, I can say that after all these years, we feel very positive about the direction that the district is going with Dr. Jarrett,” she said.

Michele and Ken have been involved in the PTO, the superintendent’s parent advisory committee, directed school fundraisers and volunteered to run special student events. Michele observed first-hand the level of Jarrett’s dedication to his job when he visited her daughter’s school.

“Dr. Jarrett came to Brookview School last year and spoke to all of the students,” she said. “He let them ask questions, he talked about his education, what he does as superintendent and why he chose to work in the education field. To see Dr. Jarrett interacting with the kids just reinforced that he is leading the district forward, he cares and that he is invested in our children’s education and this community.”

Another factor that directly affects school enrollment is the region’s housing market. The RPS report found, “Limited residential development opportunities resulting in future enrollment being more closely associated with the desire to move into the existing housing inventory.”

Winnebago County is known to have one of the most affordable housing markets in the Midwest. Within the county, strong home sales and retail development are centered along the Route 173 corridor into to Roscoe and Rockton.

“We have had steady, consistent enrollment for the past eight years,” said Eric Flohr, principal of Hononegah High School in Rockton, one of the largest high schools in the county. “Overall, the housing market fluctuations have had the greatest impact on our enrollment.  Enrollment at Hononegah High School has ranged from 2,076 students in 2009 to 2,214 students in 2011. The high school’s enrollment for 2016 was 2,129 students.

Private schools in Winnebago County have been hardest hit in the recent poor economy. Enrollment at Boylan Central Catholic High School in Rockford is at an all-time low of 897 students. The current freshman class is the smallest of all four classes with 215 students and the current junior class is the largest with 238 students.

“This is a small enrollment for us,” said Mary Gavan, assistant principal of school relations at Boylan. “We have seen this trend for many years. In the baby-boom years, we were topping 1,400; that would have been in 1970-71. The last time we had enrollment numbers in the 1,300s was in 2001-2002. Since then we have ranged from enrollments of 1,288 to our current number of 897.”

Gavan said that Boylan’s enrollment has been less than 1,000 students before citing the 1990-91 school year.

“We’ve been there before and we’ve bounced back,” she said. “This time we’re actively doing something about it.”

Gavan points to a number of ways that Boylan is recruiting students from the area.

“Our open houses have always been a staple at Boylan,” she said. “Today, we are doing other events like mini-open houses scattered throughout the year targeting those students in parish religious education programs, those is charter schools and any other interested students in the area.”

For the Catholic grade-school population, Boylan hosts school visits and Future Titan Nights held during football, basketball and volleyball games during the school year.

“We have a Step-Up Day that we started last year which is a day where all the Catholic grade school students are invited to come and spend a few hours visiting the classrooms during school,” Gavan said. “That culminates in a big pizza luncheon in the gym.” She also points to expanded marketing of the school in print, digital and social media as a way of recruiting Catholic and non-Catholic students.

Randy Taylor, superintendent of Rockford Christian Schools, says that he has seen an enrollment dip, but the student population seems to be headed in a positive direction.

“The total enrollment for Pre-K through 12^th grade at Rockford Christian was 1,134 for the 2016 school year. The 2015-16 numbers showed a slight decrease in student enrollment, but our numbers are up 1.6% since 2009,” he said.

Taylor relies on word-of-mouth testimony from current Rockford Christian families to recruit new students.

“We utilize our existing parents as our best marketing tool,” Taylor said. “When they realize their child is receiving a quality education, they share that with others.”

As for factors contributing to less than stellar school growth, Taylor cites the region’s lackluster economy and people leaving the area.

These factors have also affected enrollment in the Rockford area Catholic grade schools. Margot Shifo, assistant superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Rockford gives several reasons for decreased enrollment.

“Overall in recent years, there’s been a decrease in parish attendance, there are fewer baptisms and less children to draw from,” she said. “The economy is a huge factor in the health of private schools. Families have to pay many household expenses and sometimes a private school education is not one of those priorities.”

Wherever a child’s educational journey may take them, strong parental support and an impressive number of school choices in Winnebago County should ensure success for all students. “The loss of population in the region and the number of choices that there are now for private education have also impacted our enrollment numbers,” Gavan said.

“People make choices for their children’s schooling based on the child. If people have multiple children, they may be in multiple schools,” she said.

Gavan says that this increase in school choices: public, private, charter schools and homeschooling give parents and students more options than they had in the past.

“In this present era of primary and secondary education, all school districts and school institutions are working very actively and very hard to keep their population and to increase their population,” Gavan said.

—  Economy impacting Winnebago county school enrollment —