Enrollment numbers improve

Every fall, Birmingham City School System officials wait anxiously to find out the results of the annual average daily membership count. Districts are required to report their ADM number to the state to be used for funding for the next school year.

ADM, basically, is the average number of students who are enrolled in schools during the first 20 days after Labor Day, a time during which students continue to trickle in even though school always begins in August.

This year, we at BCS are cheering. For more than a decade, the district has lost 800 to 1,200 students each year, rapidly reducing our enrollment and having devastating effects on our state funding. We are still finalizing the data, but the preliminary ADM I was given this week shows we are down only about 140 students this year.

That is good news, at least relatively. While the smaller loss will still cost us funding and teacher and support units, the reduction for 140 students will be much less than the 54 units we lost this year because of the loss of 790 students last year.

The improved enrollment picture also could be an indication that parents and students are realizing the positive changes we are making.

For example, students are enrolled in career academies at Carver, Huffman, Jackson-Olin, Parker, Wenonah and Woodlawn high schools this fall. Career academies allow students to explore an area of interest while in high school and graduate college and career ready. Additional career academies are being planned for the future.

Ramsay High School and Phillips Academy are in their second year as candidates to become International Baccalaureate schools. They began teaching IB curriculum this year.

Teaching and learning is improving across the district. Teachers and support staff are working hard in Professional Learning Communities to improve instruction and outcomes. We have a "Response to Instruction" plan in place that already has resulted in additional schools making adequate yearly progress (AYP) and we are constantly looking for ways to raise achievement.

We are a system that is on the move, and we appreciate the parents who continue to entrust us with their children.