Sheldon area schools swell For first time in years, the high school is Eugene's largest.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

For the first time in at least 25 years, South Eugene has lost its designation as the city's biggest high school, passing the torch to Sheldon.

According to the district's official tally, Sheldon has 1,662 students enrolled this fall, compared with South Eugene's 1,646.

"I don't think any bragging rights come with it," said Sheldon Principal Bob Bolden, who noted that, counting students in the Life Skills program housed at Sheldon, the school actually serves close to 1,700 students.

The shift signals a change in demographics and a flurry of new construction in the Sheldon region that's helping fuel an enrollment surge at the high school and several other nearby schools - including Cal Young Middle School, which greeted 50 more students this fall than it had anticipated.

"It's always a good problem to have," Principal Sara Cramer said Monday, explaining that fall enrollment - taken on or about Sept. 30 and registered with the state Department of Education - determines staffing levels for the following year. "We're feeling bigger but not incredibly bigger. It's bigger, but it doesn't feel overwhelming."

It's a different story elsewhere in the district. Overall, Eugene schools lost more than 300 students this fall, reflecting a decadelong trend attributed to an aging population and a comparatively pricey housing market. In the past couple of years, the decline has been sharpest at the secondary level, as the children of baby-boomers - the so-called "echo-boomers" - graduate and smaller classes move up.

That will continue for several more years, said Dennis Urso, the Eugene School District's evaluations specialist, "and then we'll stabilize."

During the next eight years, the district - whose student population has shrunk by nearly 1,300 during the past decade - expects to lose another 1,000 students. At the same time, percentages of special education, low-income and minority students will continue to climb.

The trend has spurred the district to undertake an exhaustive planning process, Shaping 4J's Future, which could lead to school closures, greater restrictions on the popular open school choice policy and other changes.

Urso said this year's enrollment held few surprises. He had predicted the decline, and for the most part he guessed right on which schools would be the hardest hit.

Among high schools, only North Eugene was significantly below projections, with 1,068 enrolled where 1,166 were expected. Madison Middle School surpassed projections by 24 students, while the new Arts and Technology Academy at Jefferson fell 34 short.

The academy made up for it at the elementary level, however, with 30 more students than expected. Also significantly surpassing projections were Crest Drive, Willagillespie and Edgewood Community elementary schools.

Joe Alsup, principal at Crest Drive, said he believes that word is getting out about the school's strong showing on state tests and its one-of-a-kind environmental studies program.

"Generally, I think it's just the strength of the programs, the word-of-mouth and strength of the overall Crest programs," he said. "I think it really had an impact on people who were shopping (for schools)."

Alsup said eight or nine new students came from Hillside Alternative Elementary, which will close after this year. The board's decision to close Hillside came after the school lottery, limiting options for parents who wanted to enroll their children elsewhere.

Hillside's numbers dropped to 87 this fall, down from 132 last fall.

Recently, both South Eugene and Sheldon have limited transfers from the Churchill and North Eugene attendance areas.

"We're trying to work with the other high schools to stay close to our projections so we're not causing any greater decline in the smaller schools," South Eugene Principal Randy Bernstein said.

Bolden said Sheldon is also simply running out of room and can't handle many more students.

With 610 students enrolled, Cal Young - which got a brand new two-story building a year ago - still has room for more, Cramer said, but not many more.

"We're really close" to capacity, said Cramer, who had to reshuffle schedules, add some classes and fill the equivalent of a nearly half-time teaching post in the first week of school.

Cramer believes that new residential construction accounts for the growth.

Two of Cal Young's feeder elementary schools, Gilham and Willagillespie, also saw bigger-than-expected numbers this fall, although in the case of Willagillespie it was due mostly to a boundary change that took in a sizeable new housing development on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Enrollment at other metropolitan-area districts held relatively steady. The Bethel district reported four fewer students than at the same time last fall, while Springfield had about 30 more. Both Agnes Stewart Middle School and nearby Douglas Gardens Elementary saw much bigger-than-expected numbers and had to increase staffing levels, said Bruce Smolnisky, Springfield's education director.

Despite recent residential construction, the Fern Ridge district has 58 fewer students than at this point last year, Superintendent Ivan Hernandez said.

"We have not seen the boom in kids, given the boom in housing," he said.

Creswell, on the other hand, is up by at least 34 students, business manager Jennifer Heiss said.

2007 ENROLLMENT

School districts must report their fall enrollment to the state about Sept. 30.

Eugene: 17,039, down from 17,357 a year ago

Springfield: 10,985, up from 10,952 a year ago

Bethel: 5,794, down from 5,798 a year ago