The unofficial enrolment numbers for the Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) show continued growth in their schools.
"We have an increase of around 47 students in the district," explained superintendent Joe Arruda. "We've gone from about 2,540 to 2,580. It's about an increase of 1.7 per cent overall."
When LCSD conducted their count on Sept. 19, Notre Dame Elementary School had 342 students, Dr. Bernard Brosseau School was at 356, and Notre Dame High School's (NDHS) total was 390.
When it came to Cold Lake schools, the numbers came in around 454 for Holy Cross Elementary, 239 for St. Dominic, and 493 at Assumption Jr./Sr. High School.
Holy Family in Waskatenau was at 92, and Lac La Biche's Light of Christ had 214.
Since their figures were fluctuating ahead of the official count on Sept. 30, board chair Diane Bauer believes they could still see a further increase.
"It was at 1.7 per cent, and even from the time that was taken, we have enrolled a few other students. We're expecting enrolment to be somewhere between a two and 2.5 per cent increase. That's not official, and we do expect it to change, but we will certainly be seeing an increase in enrolment and that's good news."
While Arruda agreed with Bauer's prediction, he doesn't see the change being a drastic one.
"It won't be a big jump. It may be nine or 10 students, but I don't think it's going to be more than that."
When they were working on their budget, LCSD predicted a three per cent rise in enrolment from 2018.
"We normally roll up all the grades, and then we take the average of kindergartners. That's where we were off target was in the kindergarten numbers... The average of the last three years was much higher than our kindergarten numbers this year," Arruda detailed.
Bauer said the district starts working on their budget in November using the previous year's official enrolment to determine their predictions for the following school year.
Arruda noted the drop in kindergarten enrolment was significant for the district.
"For example, in Bonnyville our kindergarten numbers are usually between 70 and 80. This year, they're at 66. In Cold Lake, it's the same thing. They're down around 10 per cent from the previous years," he said, adding there's been a slight decrease for the area in that age category over the six years he's been with district.
According to Bauer, LCSD has seen "a 35 per cent increase in our enrolment over the past five years."
"I like to believe it's because we have good programs, good staff, and a good relationship with the communities," she continued.
Arruda added, "Parents are choosing our schools for the safe and caring environments, academic achievements, and also for our inclusive education philosophy."
Bauer and Arruda agreed opening Light of Christ in Lac La Biche could also be another contributing factor.
"We started with 100 students three years ago, and now we're up to 214."
School divisions were required to conduct their official enrolment count on Sept. 30. Those numbers are submitted to the province to determine funding for the school year.
