The Park Hill School District’s official K-12 enrollment for the 2025–2026 school year is 11,470 students, representing a decrease of 133 students (-1.1%) from the prior year and continuing a recent trend of slight enrollment decline following a period of overall stability.
An enrollment update and report was shared by Dr. Paul Kelly, assistant superintendent for business and technology for Park Hill, at a recent board of education meeting.
This report provides an overview of enrollment by total district count, by cohort/grade, and by individual school, with analysis of historical patterns, comparisons to the previous three years, and performance relative to budgeted projections. The data and trends outlined here will inform both the district’s budget development process and long-range facility planning efforts under Park Hill 2034.
Following is Kelly’s report.
Total Enrollment
Official enrollment counts in Missouri are taken on the last Wednesday of September each year, providing a consistent benchmark for comparison across school years. For 2025–2026, Park Hill’s official K-12 enrollment is 11,470 students, reflecting a slight decline from the prior year and coming in below budgeted projections.
This year’s total follows a period of sustained growth through the 2000s and early 2010s, when enrollment steadily climbed from 9,127 students in 2001–2002 to a peak of 11,707 students in 2020-2021. Since that high point, enrollment has largely plateaued, with small year-to-year fluctuations.
The current year continues this leveling trend, signaling a stabilization of the student population after nearly two decades of consistent expansion.
From a cohort perspective, Park Hill’s enrollment changes reflect smaller incoming kindergarten classes compared to the larger graduating cohorts in recent years. This pattern is consistent with regional and state demographic trends, including lower birth rates and slower housing growth compared to the rapid expansion period of the late 1990s and early 2000s. At the same time, grade level enrollment sizes remain relatively balanced, suggesting that while overall growth has slowed, the district is not experiencing sharp declines in specific cohorts.
Looking ahead, the 2025–2026 total indicates that Park Hill is likely entering a period of enrollment stability. This provides the district with a more predictable planning environment for staffing, facilities, and program support after decades of enrollment pressure driven by growth.
Performance to Budget
The 2025–2026 official enrollment came in at 11,470 students compared to a budgeted projection of 11,584, a variance of -114 students (-1.0%). While most grade levels tracked close to projections, the largest single shortfall was in Kindergarten (-23). This underperformance was partially offset by stronger-than-expected enrollment in Grades 4, 7, and 11, which exceeded budget by a combined 23 students.
Enrollment by Grade Level
Enrollment patterns across grade levels provide insight into how student cohorts move through the system and where variances from projections occur. In 2025–2026, most grades came in close to budgeted expectations, with the largest shortfall in Kindergarten (-23) and slight overages in Grades 4 (+5), 7 (+8), and 11 (+10).
Overall, grade-level counts remain balanced, reflecting stability across the district despite modest year-to-year shifts.
Across the 13 grade levels, 2025–2026 enrollment generally aligned with budgeted expectations, though several cohorts finished outside of the district’s typical three-to-five year range. The largest negative variance occurred in Kindergarten (767, -23), which continues a pattern of smaller incoming classes compared to recent years and reflects broader demographic shifts such as declining birth rates and slower housing growth. Other significant shortfalls included 5th grade (-21), 8th grade (-19), and 9th grade (-20), all of which came in below projections.
At the elementary level (Grades K–5), enrollment was slightly below budget overall (-72 students total), with most grades under by 8 to 23 students, except for Grade 4 (900, +5), which was above expectations. Middle school grades (6–8) finished close to budget (-12 students total), though Grade 7 (873, +8) was notably higher than projected. High school grades (9–12) showed a mixed pattern (-30 students total): Grade 11 (994, +10) exceeded projections, while Grades 9, 10, and 12 each came in modestly below budget.
Taken together, the data confirm that while total enrollment has stabilized districtwide, grade-level variances—particularly the shortfall in Kindergarten and upper elementary grades, and overages in Grades 4, 7, and 11—continue to shape cohort dynamics. These differences provide important context for cohort survival analysis and will inform adjustments to future enrollment projections.
Enrollment by Resident School
School-level enrollment in 2025–2026 reflects the impact of the district’s recent boundary adjustments and the opening of Angeline Washington Elementary. Redistricting implemented last year helped rebalance enrollment across elementary schools, easing capacity pressures in several buildings. With the addition of Angeline Washington this fall, enrollment is now distributed more evenly across schools, supporting stability in class sizes and providing capacity for future neighborhood growth.
For this section, data are reported by Resident School, meaning the school a student is assigned to based on geographic attendance boundaries. Some students may attend other schools through district programs or choice processes; however, schools such as LEAD Innovation Studio, Russell Jones Education Center, and Gerner Family Early Education Center serve the entire district and are therefore not included as Resident Schools in the data and charts that follow.
School-level enrollment in 2025–2026 reflects both the opening of Angeline Washington Elementary (423 students) and the full effect of the elementary redistricting completed last year. As anticipated, enrollment shifts were significant at several schools, with decreases at Union Chapel (-223), Southeast (-134), Chinn (-85), and Hawthorn (-66) offset by gains at Line Creek (+91), English Landing (+63), and Renner (+12). These changes indicate that students were redistributed to balance capacity and relieve overcrowding in high-growth attendance areas.
At the middle school level, enrollment remained stable overall, though changes varied by building. Congress (+51) gained students, while Walden (-69) declined, reflecting boundary adjustments and feeder realignments. Lakeview (+5) and Plaza (-5) remained essentially flat.
At the high school level, both Park Hill High School (-38) and Park Hill South (-12) saw modest declines, consistent with smaller incoming cohorts moving into Grades 9–12.
Overall, these shifts demonstrate that redistricting and the opening of Angeline Washington achieved their intended goal of distributing enrollment more evenly across schools, reducing capacity pressures in several elementary buildings while maintaining balanced feeder patterns across the district.
