Waitlists at many Denver colleges are shrinking. Lookup 2023 information right here.

Waitlists at many Denver public colleges are shrinking as enrollment decreases in Colorado’s largest faculty district, in keeping with faculty selection information from this previous spring.

5 years in the past, East Excessive College had the longest waitlist for incoming ninth graders in all of Denver Public Faculties with 226 college students. This yr, there have been simply 28 incoming ninth graders on East’s waitlist after the primary spherical of faculty selection, an 87% lower. 

East had a tough yr, with three shootings on or close to the campus that resulted in two pupil deaths and sparked a districtwide depending on security and the reintroduction of police in colleges. However many different colleges are seeing their waitlists shrink, too. 

The district’s largest center faculty, McAuliffe Worldwide, had the second-longest waitlist for incoming sixth graders 5 years in the past with 183 college students. This yr, there have been no college students on McAuliffe Worldwide’s waitlist on the finish of the primary spherical of faculty selection.

Elementary colleges have been hardest hit by declining enrollment, and lots of waitlists replicate that. In 2018, Steck Elementary had the longest waitlist for incoming kindergarteners with 144 college students. This yr, Steck’s waitlist was simply 43 college students.

In all, Chalkbeat counted 76 colleges the place waitlists shrank, typically by massive quantities, and 33 colleges the place waitlists grew, typically by only one or two college students. The remainder of DPS’ roughly 200 colleges both don’t have a waitlist or don’t have comparable information.

College selection means college students in DPS — and in districts throughout Colorado — can apply to attend any faculty, even when they don’t reside inside that college’s boundary. DPS invitations households to submit faculty selection functions in two rounds. 

The primary spherical is essentially the most aggressive. This yr, households submitted functions in January and February for colleges this fall, rating as much as 12 decisions. They discovered in late April the place their kids had been accepted. Typically, if there are extra college students than seats at a specific faculty, the district holds a lottery. College students who don’t get a seat are placed on a waitlist.

DPS’ general enrollment has been shrinking, dropping from about 93,350 college students in 2019-20 to 88,760 final faculty yr — a virtually 5% lower in 4 years. And the district predicts the downward development will proceed resulting from decrease beginning charges and better housing prices.

Laurie Premer, the district’s director of enrollment companies, mentioned in an interview that the shrinking waitlists are doubtless a symptom of declining enrollment. However there could possibly be different causes, too, she mentioned, together with that households are happier with their assigned boundary colleges.

The proportion of DPS college students who take part at school selection has held regular over the previous 5 years at about 44%, in keeping with a district report.

A number of colleges are bucking the development of shrinking waitlists. The sixth grade waitlists at Merrill and Morey center colleges had been notably longer after the primary spherical of selection this yr than in 2018. Morey’s grew greater than 20 instances as lengthy from 2 to 47 college students.

Northfield Excessive College had the longest waitlist within the district with 278 incoming ninth graders ready for a seat. That’s a 35% improve from 2018, when the waitlist was at 205 college students.

The searchable database beneath reveals what number of college students in kindergarten, and sixth and ninth grades had been on every faculty’s waitlist on the finish of the primary spherical of faculty selection this yr. The database additionally reveals what number of college students had been accepted at every faculty. 

There are a number of caveats to the info, that are detailed beneath the database.

Listed below are the caveats:

The rely of accepted college students contains each college students who utilized by means of faculty selection and those that reside within the faculty’s boundary and can doubtless attend. College students who don’t submit a college selection utility are enrolled at their boundary colleges.

The variety of accepted college students might look artificially low at some colleges that span grade ranges, resembling Ok-8 or 6-12 colleges. That’s as a result of college students who already attend that college don’t have to use to remain for the subsequent degree. As an illustration, an eighth grader at a 6-12 faculty wouldn’t have to use to attend the varsity in ninth grade, even when they reside outdoors the boundary.

A single pupil could be on a number of waitlists. A pupil who was accepted to her third-choice faculty can be waitlisted at her first- and second-choice colleges.

The waitlists will change by fall as college students transfer out and in of the town or change their minds. DPS’ second spherical of faculty selection is now open and runs by means of Aug. 31.

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, overlaying Denver Public Faculties. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.