SYRACUSE — Friday, Sept. 18th, was the first day for public schools in Indiana to begin submitting enrollment reports to the Indiana Department of Education in the process known as average daily membership, or ADM. Wawasee’s preliminary numbers show an overall increase compared to the same time last year.

As a corporation, Wawasee Community School Corp. has a preliminary enrollment number of 3,157, up from 3,037.7 reported at this time in 2014. For clarification, kindergarten students are now counted as a full student (not a half student as in previous years) and students who are homeschooled but attend classes at Wawasee for part of the day are counted as less than one full student.

Wawasee High School has 1,016 enrolled, up from 970 last year. Dr. Tom Edington, superintendent, noted the high school has a large freshman class this year. But kindergarten students now being counted as a full student accounts for the biggest growth in the corporation’s enrollment this year, he noted.

Milford School has 615 enrolled (342 at the elementary and 273 in the middle school). Wawasee Middle School has 492 enrolled, Syracuse Elementary School has 532 and North Webster Elementary 502.

The numbers are preliminary because some school districts may have students who are also enrolled in another district (or dual enrolled) because they transferred to another district and did not inform the district they transferred from, so both districts are claiming the same student. Wawasee has two K-8 students who are dual enrolled and some at the high school, but the final count is not known yet.

Friday, Oct. 9, is the final deadline to resolve dual enrollment or other enrollment issues. Having an accurate enrollment count is crucial because IDOE bases funding for schools on enrollment numbers. Another head count will occur later in the school year.