August 31, 2016
Growing strong in Wentzville Wentzville School District welcomes the challenges of being the fastest-growing district in the state
Around Town
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Celebrating man’s best friend
By Brett Auten
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Feature Section What would cause most school districts to fluster has become commonplace in Wentzville. Yet again, when the doors opened on Aug. 11, the Wentzville School District has seen another boost in its number of students. Since 2001 Wentzville has continued to be the fastest-growing school district in the state. This year saw an increase of 625 students district-wide, bumping the total from 15,349 to 15,974. When looking at the numbers, the amount of new students can be borderline astonishing. On one July day, 67 new students enrolled in the district. That was part of a two-week boom that saw around 300 students enroll during that time frame. “This is just my fourth year in the district but this has been our reality since 2000,” Dr. Curtis Cain, Wentzville superintendent said. “Back then we were just under 6,000 students and this year we’re close to 16,000. It has been a longstanding tradition that the district has been able to accommodate plenty of students every year. Growth is on our radar and we always anticipate it.” Why such a consistent increase? Urban sprawl is a term that has been thrown around for decades and that is certainly part of it. Affordable housing prices combined with a reputation of excellent public school educational opportunities have led for the influx of families into the district. In a Citizen’s Satisfactory Survey compiled by the city of Wentzville during January and February of this year when asked about the most important reasons they chose to live in Wentzville, residents indicated these top-three choices: quality of public schools, safety and security and quality of housing. Wentzville leads St. Charles County municipalities in new home construction, issuing 343 permits since the beginning of 2016. Second was O’Fallon (200), then St. Charles city (126). From 2010 to 2015, 25,000 people moved into
Health Living
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Business Donation to The Sparrow’s Nest
Students line the halls at Discovery Ridge Elementary School in the Wentzville School District
St. Charles County, making the county first in the state in population growth, according to the Missouri Census Data Center. Since 2010, Wentzville has issued 2,667 new, single-family home permits. More than 1,700 new, single-family homes were built in St. Charles County each year from 2013-2015, according to a press release. The Wentzville School District, which is composed of three high schools, three middle schools, and nine elementary schools (soon to be 11), is the 11th largest school district in the state. Projected numbers have the school district climbing into the top five position in 10 years with somewhere in the neighborhood of 22,000 students. So how does a school district deal with anywhere from 500-600 new students each and every year over the last 11? Well, it’s become old hat. “Growth is what we do in Wentzville,” Mary LaPak, Director of Community Relations with the Wentzville School District said. “We’ve not only managed
Photos by Ray Rockwell
the growth but our students have consistently performed in the top 10 in the state when it comes to test scoring and have a solid base in STEM and other programs. So, we have not only just increased the number of classrooms but have also maintained the high quality education that people have come to expect from Wentzville.” The district has continually loaded up on new teachers. According to Cain, 115 new teachers were added to the district and he estimated that around 100 teachers have been hired in each of his four years. Wentzville has gotten kudos for its financial responsibility when it comes to making room for its continued expansion. Earlier this month, the Wentzville School District Board of Education unanimously approved the sale of approximately $54 million Lease Participation Certificates that will provide funds See SCHOOL page 2
Learn & Play
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