Sept. 22, 2010:  Although enrollment figures won't be finalized until October, Bronxville School Superintendent Dr. David Quattrone presented estimates at the September 16 meeting of the Board of Education and in a newsletter mailed to parents.

Overall, student enrollment stands at 1,544 for kindergarten through 12th grade. This represents an increase of six students from last year's enrollment, for a "highly stable pattern," said Quattrone. The figure includes a total of eight tuition students, which Assistant Superintendent for Administration Dr. John Kehoe said is in keeping with recent trends: "I don't think you're going to see that number increase daramatically next year."

Enrollment breaks down by school thusly, in comparison to 2009–2010 enrollment:

• Elementary school: 740, an increase of 17 students
• Middle school: 348, a drop of 15 students
• High school: 456, an increase of four

"We're basically still in the same pattern we have been in for a number of years, with very slight fluctuations," Quattrone observed. Board member Pierre de Saint Phalle wondered whether these fluctuations carried any significance, but they aren't unusual, answered the superintendent: "It's the way cohorts move across the grades."

Quattrone also provided a glimpse of class sizes throughout the district. The elementary school is averaging 22 students per class. This is a slightly higher than usual amount which reflects class sizes of 23.4 in the second grade sections.

The average class size in the middle school is 18.6, including the advisory program. Compared with last year, fewer classes have less than 15 students or more than 30 (just the school's chorus program). "We're doing a better job managing class sizes," said Quattrone.

On average, the high school classes have 19 students. This corresponds to a broad array of electives at the school. Quattrone noted that the count is above 25 in some classes, such as Advanced Placement U.S. history; 11th- and 12th-grade physical education; band, chorus, and orchestra; and one section of acting.

Board members posed some questions about the larger class sizes in the elementary school. "Is anything else being done for classes with 23 or 24 students?" asked Board President Dr. James Hudson. To address the small bulge in second-grade classes, an aide assists each of those teachers for at least part of every day, explained Quattrone. The third grade has been reduced from six sections to five, with 23 students per class. So far, Quattrone reported, no parents have come forward to express concern.

Pictured here: A Bronxville Elementary School classroom

Photo by A. Warner