Full classrooms, half-empty schools

Juneau schools are seeing an increase this year of about 200 students compared to the 2015-16 school year, leading to the largest student body population since 2013. But how full are Juneau’s schools? Two are nearing capacity, but the others are well short of the enrollment numbers they were built for.

The Juneau School District swelled during the 1997-98 school year, boasting a population of about 5,700 students. Since then, numbers have continually decreased. This year, there were 4,808 students enrolled as of Aug. 25. Here’s the student capacity breakdown by school:

Auke Bay Elem.

2016-17 enrollment: 415

Compared to 2015: +52

Classroom capacity: 98%

Gastineau Elem.

2016-17 enrollment: 270

Compared to 2015: -2

Classroom capacity: 70%

Glacier Valley Elem.

2016-17 enrollment: 385

Compared to 2015: +/-0

Classroom capacity: 85%

Harborview Elem.

2016-17 enrollment: 364

Compared to 2015: -13

Classroom capacity: 63%

Mendenhall River Elem.

2016-17 enrollment: 342

Compared to 2015: +13

Classroom capacity: 68%

Riverbend Elem.

2016-17 enrollment: 314

Compared to 2015: +15

Classroom capacity: 63%

* Montessori Borealis

2016-17 enrollment: 177

Compared to 2015: +2

Juneau Charter School

2016-17 enrollment: 97

Compared to 2015: +22

Floyd Dryden M.S.

2016-17 enrollment: 443

Compared to 2015: -40

Classroom capacity: 99%

Dzantik’I Heeni M.S.

2016-17 enrollment: 490

Compared to 2015: +15

Classroom capacity: 77%

Juneau-Douglas H.S.

2016-17 enrollment: 615

Compared to 2015: +10

Classroom capacity: 53%

Thunder Mountain H.S.

2016-17 enrollment: 733

Compared to 2015: +30

Classroom capacity: 71%

*Yaakoosge Daakahidi H.S.

2016-17 enrollment: 94

Compared to 2015: -5

HomeBRIDGE (home school)

2016-17 enrollment: 30

Compared to 2015: -16

Johnson Youth Center

2016-17 enrollment: 14

Compared to 2015: -1

* Yaakoosge Daakahidi and Montessori Borealis are housed in the Marie Drake building next to JDHS. The two schools combined have 271 students (63% capacity).

Editor’s note: All enrollment numbers provided by the Juneau School District. Elementary school figures includes Pre-K enrollment.