CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — A recent study by the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service studied how school enrollment trends have changed following the pandemic. Chesapeake is seeing fluctuating numbers, but they’re trending up compared to to other school divisions in the 757.
Chesapeake’s numbers aren’t up to what they were before the pandemic in 2019, but they’re getting closer. The area is also seeing more houses popping up, new businesses moving in, and growth for certain parts of the area.
“There’s some in particular, like the Greenbrier area, the Hickory area, the Dominion Corridor,” said Superintendent Dr. Jared Cotton. “We’re finding that developments are being approved and we have a lot of underdeveloped land in our city, which is unlike some of our neighbors.”
Underdeveloped land, which is also giving the school division room to grow. Cotton said they’re especially seeing that growth at the elementary level.
A new school is in the works for Culpepper Landing, while Crestwood Intermediate School is going to be converted into a K-5 elementary school.
The design for Crestwood looks similar to the current exterior of Great Bridge Primary.
“What’s exciting about that is the 21st century design,” Cotton said, “and there’s a lot of research to support [that] when students are in modern buildings, they have an opportunity to really engage in the learning.”
From 2017 to 2020, the school division saw steady growth, with a peak enrollment of 40,699 students during the 2019-2020 school year. But not all of those students came back following the pandemic.
“I’m assuming many of them went to do homeschool or private schools,” Cotton said, “and we really have not brought all of those students back.”
But they’re absorbing the growth in other areas, with new housing developments popping up and new families moving into the school division.
“I think they’re coming here because of the reputation of our great school division,” Cotton said, “and it’s not because of me, it’s because of our staff who work hard each and every day at our schools really building those relationships with the families and the community.”
Their numbers dropped to just over 39,000 in 2021, but they have since grown to just over 40,000 — 40,053 to be specific — this school year.
Cotton said they continue to see fluctuating numbers and are anticipating a slight decrease for next year, but that isn’t stopping them for planning for the future.
“I was just at an event recently where our city manager and our mayor commented on the fact that our school division is what brings people to our community,” Cotton said. “When I talk to parents, they tell me that they’re here because of the reputation of our school division and of course, as I said earlier, we have areas of the city that is primed and ready to be developed.”
The new Crestwood Elementary building should be open for the 2025-2026 school year. They’re hoping the new school at Culpepper Landing in Deep Creek will be open for the 2027-2028 school year.
Cotton said they also have some other plans in the works, such as auditorium renovations and playground improvements, also, in their five-year plan.
Some parts of their 10-year plan are still not funded.