Numbers released by the Platte County R-3 School District indicate the district’s enrollment has fallen by more than 2.5 percent compared to last year.
Total enrollment for kindergarten through 12th grade is 4,227 this year, a decrease of 112 students compared to last year’s total of 4,339.
“Several factors likely contributed to this. A few housing developments within our district boundaries have experienced construction delays, which has temporarily slowed the number of new families moving into the area,” said Laura Hulett, director of communications for the school district, in response to a query from The Landmark.
“Additionally, our current kindergarten class–the smallest in 16 years–is made up of students born during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she added.
Hulett said many surrounding school districts and childcare providers are also seeing smaller kindergarten and PreK classes this year, “which aligns with broader demographic trends.”
The district pushes back against the theory that more students are choosing other educational options.
“While we continue to monitor enrollment closely, our initial data regarding students transferring to homeschool, private, or online schools does not indicate a significant change from previous years,” Hulett said.
One notable fact about this year’s enrollment is that the number of kindergarten students is 282, which is down by 45 compared to last year’s kindergarten.
As Hulett pointed out, it is the smallest kindergarten class the R-3 district has seen in 16 years.
At a meeting last week, Dr. Drew White, deputy superintendent, provided the Platte County R-3 School Board an enrollment summary by building, grade, and cohort for the 2025-26 school year.
The district’s largest grade level is this year’s sophomore class with 374 students, while the smallest is the kindergarten class with 282 students.
ELEMENTARY NUMBERS
Total number of elementary students in the Platte County R-3 School District is down by 44 students compared to last year.
Enrollment at Siegrist Elementary dropped by eight, Compass Elementary fell by 20 students, Barry Elementary is down by four, and Pathfinder Elementary fell by 12 students.
This year’s numbers at each elementary:
Siegrist: 624.
Compass: 511.
Barry: 336.
Pathfinder: 399.
MIDDLE SCHOOL NUMBERS
One of the district’s two middle school’s saw a notable decrease in students and the other saw a slight gain in enrollment.
Platte City Middle School has 614 students this year, down 38 from last year’s 652.
Platte Purchase Middle School in the southern part of the district has an enrollment of 377, up slightly from last year’s total of 373.
HIGH SCHOOL
Total high school enrollment this year is 1,366, a decrease of 34 from last year’s total of 1,400.
Notably, the freshman class is down by 64 compared to last year’s freshman group.
The sophomore class is up by 38 from last year’s sophomore number.
The junior class is 12 students smaller than last year’s junior class.
Platte County High School’s senior class this year is 334, up by four compared to last year.
