GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

The 14 high schools saved from closure by a union lawsuit will open tomorrow with significantly lowered enrollments. A majority of the schools have seen their incoming ninth grade cohorts cut by half or more over last year.

Though enrollment numbers at the schools have increased since July, when the Department of Education last reported them, they’re still far below where they’ve been in years past. Many of the schools admitted fewer students through the high school admission process this year and are taking in more “over the counter” students. These are students who don’t apply to the schools, but are placed in them by the DOE, and more are likely to enroll in the coming weeks.

Of the schools the city wanted to close, the Choir Academy of Harlem had its ninth grade enrollment drop the most, from 64 students last year to 21 this year, a 67 percent decline. Brooklyn’s Maxwell Career and Technical Education High School is a close second; incoming freshman class is 66 percent smaller than last year’s class.

New Day Academy, a 6-12 school, saw the least change. Last year it opened with 79 ninth graders and, as of today, it has 73. (more…)

Enrollment numbers at high schools that the city had targeted for closure are on the rise, but still far below past years’ levels.

After a judge’s ruling postponed closures at 19 schools — 14 of them high schools — many of the schools began reporting that they were severely under-enrolled. Metropolitan Corporate Academy had eight incoming ninth graders and Jamaica High School in Queens had 23 — a number so low the school’s principal doubted he’d be able to have a freshman class. Now that the city has completed its second round of high school placements, more students are set to enter these schools next year.

But the numbers are still extremely low. While there are now 23 students enrolled at Metropolitan Corporate Academy, the school traditionally saw an incoming freshman class of between 70 and 100 students. Many of these schools still have enrollments too low for them to support a ninth grade program. If the city does not assign them more students, they could be forced to phase out their ninth grades, skirting the court’s ruling that the schools should remain intact.

A spokesman for the Department of Education said the city expects the enrollment numbers to climb. (more…)