Enrollments Soar At Some Schools, Decline At Others

"Go west young man," exhorted Horace Greeley. Southeast appears to be the more popular direetion for families with school age children in Ann Arbor. While schools in the western portion of the Ann Arbor school district decline in popularity, the south and southeast corner are overcrowded or may be soon, a school official predicts. "The southeast side has had growth faster than we can keep it in schools," says Emerson Powrie, deputy superintendent for operations. "This is true in the Clinton área, could become true in the Mitchell area and will ' i ' Is probably be true in the garpénter área, too." In the northeast section of the district the Traver Lake housing development could have an impact on Thurston Elementary until the new Clifford Bryant Elementary is 'built, Powrie says. Wendell Mason, planning intern for the City Planning Office, says the southeast area of Ann Arbor is the fastest growing area of the city and supposedly the northeast area will be the next. Mason predicts when Eisenhower Parkway connects with Briarwood Shopping Center and the Ann Arbor-Saline Road, "the whole area will just blossom." Numerous developments are íh the planning stage in the southeast área. Masón says the city is in the process of I annexing islands in Pittsfield Township which are surrounded by Ann Arbor. He adds the annexation will make more land available for developments. Additional housing units are I being considered at Milll Creek, north of 1-94 between Platt and Stone School Road and by Meyer Korchak at Ellsworth and Platt. Mason adds there is a possibility a trailer court might be opened by Glacier Corporation west of US-23, east of Charing Cross Road and south of Packard. Plans are underway for Pheasant Run, south of 1-94, east of Stone School Road and I north of Ellsworth Road. Hidden Valley, a multiple-family dweiling housing unit, is in the building stage west of State Street, east of Main Street and north of Waters, Mason says. While schools in the southeast and some in the east are beginning to bulge, schools in , the west portion of the district are contemplating population declines this fall. Elementary schools which declined in population between 1970-71 and 1971-72 were Abbot, Allen, Angelí, Bach, Bader, Burns Park, Carpenter, Dicken, Dixboro, EberI. white, Haisley, Lakewood, Lawton, Mack, Meadowview, Mitchell, Newport, Pattengill, Pittsfield, and Wines. Clinton increased its enrollment by 115 students between 1970-71 and 1971-72. King, i Northside, Stone and Thurston Elementary Schools also had larger enrollments. Powrie attributes some of the decline in the overall elementary school age population to increased use of birth control pills. Powrie says at one time schools such as Dicken and Wines Elementary had populations of about 600. Wines I had 490 students last year and I Dicken had 526. The official school census for 1972-73 will be taken the fourth Friday after school starts. Powrie of the school population can be a critical issue for a principal. At the elementary level, if population falls below 500, the principal loses a half-time secretary. If there [has to be curtailment, library [services are cut. The assignement of special teachers in áreas such as art, physical education and music are based on school population. Powrie says if the population falls below 500 students, it allows the principal less flexibility in scheduling the special classes. Powrie says family housing patterns have partially affected the enrollment in some of the west side schools. He notes when the schools were built, young families were m o v i n g into the smaller homes in the area. As the families experienced a rise in income, some moved to larger homes in the area, but most of their children have outgrown elementary school. Powrie, former principal of Dicken, notes last summer he observed six families move out of the Dicken school attendance area. Not one was replaced with a family with children in elementary school. Haisley Elementary has experienced one of the more dramatic declines in enrollment. Prior to the opening of Abbot Elementary in 1962, Haisley had more than 800 students. Af ter Abbot opened, enrollment feil to 720. In 1970, Haisley enrollment dropped to 643. Enrollment in 1971 was 568. Powrie says anticipated enrollment for 1972-73 is between 530 and 550 students. There are a number of elementary classrooms w h i c h have been converted to administration offices or are used by faculty and students as auxiliary rooms. Povvrie says six rooms at Haisley are used by the Pupil Personnel Department. The Office of External Affairs uses two rooms at Lakewood Elementary. The Recreation Department uses two rooms at Lawton, and two rooms at Allen are used by the Continuing Education Department. The multi-ethnic program is tentatively scheduled to be housed in Bach Elementary. Bader Elementary houses the early childhood education program. Meadowview Elementary School is now being used by the practical nurses training program which is under the auspices of the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Angelí Elementary School also has extra rooms, Powrie says. The extra rooms could be used for extra-curricular activities he adds. Enrollment figures for the junior high and middle schools are described as "good" except for Scarlett Middle School which Powrie says will have about 950 students this fall.He says the administration w o u 1 d like to have about 800 students at Scarlett. Powrie says Clague Middle School will be filled this fall with more than 800 students. He says if a number of students move into the area t h r o u g h the Traver Lake development, the school would not be geared for additional staff or accommodations. Because of overcrowded I conditions the senior high I schools will be on split shifts I this f all. Powrie says Pioneer, I which was built for 2,200 I dents, will have about 2,700. I Huron will have 400 more I dents than it was built for. I Anticipated enrollment this] fall is 2,200 he says. The projected school district enrollment for 1972-73 is 20,164, according . to Powrie. Enrollment during 1971-72 was 19,911 and in 1970-71 it was 20,152. Five years ago enrollment was 19,179. The school district's office of planning and Advanced Planning Research Group (APRG), a consulting agency, are responsible for planning new construction of schools to accommodate population shifts. F. David Aberdeen, deputy superintendent for planning, says, depending on the situation, district planners are two or three years ahead in planning new schools. Aberdeen says APRG is developing base data and a procedure to allow more time to plan on the basis of growth patterns and mobility. Aberdeen says at one time growth s in Ann Arbor may have been more orderly. He says Ann Arbor and the nation is experiencing more rapid and less predictable growth patterns. APRG is scheduled to present a report on growth in the south-southeast section of the school district at the Sept. 6 Board of Education meeting.