According to a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education database, an increasing number of school-age children in Belmont are choosing to attend private or parochial schools.
The number of school-age children attending private school increased from 481 to 545 between the 2017-18 and 2022-23 school years, the most recent school year for which data was available. Private school enrollment increased steadily each year during that time, though it’s unclear which grades in particular students were opting for a private education.
During the 2022-2023 school year, roughly 89% of students attended public schools – a percentage that has held steady with a slight decrease since the 2017-2018 school year.
Assistant Superintendent Lucia Sullivan said anecdotally that many students return to the district for high school after a few years in private schools. She said the ninth-grade classes are typically larger than some younger ones. According to DESE enrollment reports, enrollment numbers showed an increase between the eighth and ninth-grade enrollments each year, possibly indicating students had returned to public school for ninth grade.
Sullivan said in past years, this may have been attributed to the size of the Chenery School, which previously existed as a middle school of roughly 1,600 students. Students and families were overwhelmed by the size of the school after leaving their small neighborhood schools.
“My sincere hope is that creating a new, younger, more child-focused school at Chenery will shift that balance,” she said. “I think parents are going to be more connected to a kids’ teacher. … I think [fourth grade] is a grade where one can feel concerned about whether their kids will get enough attention. The changes we’re making at Chenery will ensure every kid is known and connected to a caring adult.”
As for other educational opportunities, of the 5,004 school-age children in town, 4,336 attended local public schools in 2022-2023, 18 attended out-of-district public schools, 26 attended vocational schools, 52 attended collaboratives, six attended charter schools—a steep jump from zero to two students in previous years—and 18 were homeschooled.
