Most San Antonio-area school systems still in pandemic’s enrollment undertow
Dual language Pre-K teacher Vanessa Guerra engages with her students at Menchaca Early Childhood Center in Southside ISD on Thursday. Enrollment at Southside has continued to climb, even in pre-K, but other local districts saw a decline during the pandemic.Starting as early as 6:15 a.m., cars begin lining up at Menchaca Early Childhood Center to drop off more than 900 of Southside Independent School District’s youngest students.
The Menchaca center had 730 students last year. Today it’s operating at capacity and the school district is bucking a regional trend of very slow enrollment recovery, especially in the earliest grades, from levels not seen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. East Central ISD also started the current school year higher than its 2019 enrollment, by about 400 students.
He suspects that some transfer students might be from families that live in the district but previously sent their kids elsewhere because of Southside’s formerly low performance and now “wanted to give us an opportunity.” With a “B” grade in the latest state accountability report, the district worked hard to promote its new academic standing.