Enrollment is on the rise at two of the island’s three private schools.
Spring Street International School added 13 students this fall. Stillpoint School’s enrollment increased by five. Paideia Classical School saw a six-student drop in enrollment this school year.
A total of 71 students in grades 6-12 are enrolled at Spring Street. This count includes eight international students from China, Korea and Vietnam, and two students from Whidbey Island. The international student count doubled from a year ago. School administrators hope to increase the count to 15 foreign students by next year.
Spring Street’s student count rose 12 percent over last year; the student increase does not include the international student population, administrators said. Last year, Spring Street had an enrollment of 58.
Stillpoint School currently has 12 students, up from seven students a year ago. Sisters Dori Sears and Kate Sears are the owners and teachers of the private non-profit K-5 school.
The enrollment at Paideia Classical School dropped from 49 last year to 43 this year. Paideia is a Christian school that engages students in grades K-8 in in classical learning.
There are no kindergarteners enrolled at this time, but Paideia Principal Scott Mapstead said an average of two to four kindergarteners attend Paideia each school year.
Paideia is in its eighth year of operation. Scholarships are now offered through Family Financial Needs Assessment. This is the first time Paideia has offered student scholarships. FFNA offers tuition assistance for Christian education to about 500 Christian schools throughout the United States.
Mapstead said two families opted out of Paideia because of personal financial concerns.