District officials urge student registration ahead of first day
Aug. 7—As the start of the school year quickly approaches, St. Joseph School District leaders are concerned with the number of students registered so far.
Districtwide, enrollment numbers are sitting at 50% of where they need to be, officials said. They are encouraging parents to register students sooner rather than later.
"We've had about 500 new students total since the beginning of July that have enrolled here," said Shannon Nolte, director of non-academic services. "That number seems kind of high, but a lot of that is incoming kindergarteners. We've had around 180 new enrollments just from the beginning of August so we're expecting those enrollments to pick up, but we ask that people get it done before the first day."
Nolte said delaying school enrollment could affect students attending class on the first day, and for upper-level students, that could mean getting enrolled in classes they don't necessarily want to be in.
"Late enrollment limits the choices of classes students can choose from," he said. "We may have to end up putting them in classes we're not sure of, so start those online enrollments, especially if they're new, so we can get their records transferred over and understand what classes best fit them."
Officials are encouraging parents to utilize their new online registration website, as it only takes a few minutes to complete enrollment for returning students.
Required documents to register include:
* proof of residency
* required immunizations
* a certified copy of birth certificate
* school records
The school district has posted this year's bus route on its website and said any families planning to utilize the busy system should enroll immediately so bus routes can be updated before Aug. 21.
Jenna Wilson can be reached at jenna.wilson@newspressnow.com.
