Hopkinton School Enrollment Surpasses Projections Again

Hopkinton Public Schools total PK-12 enrollment stands at 3,521 as of October 1, 2017, which is an increase of 56 students over last year and surpasses the most recent projection by 25 students. Last year NESDEC projections showed that enrollment would not be this high until after the 2018-19 school year. [UPDATE: After this article was originally written, new NESDEC projections were presented at one of the November 2017 School Committee meetings.]

This year the largest class is grade 9 with 312 students. Grade 5 is the largest elementary grade with 278 students. Residential development is expected to continue at Legacy Farms and Hopkinton Mews in the coming years.  This year there are 207 students from Legacy Farms (an increase of 54 from last year). The Legacy Farms Host Community Agreement has provisions in place if the enrollment exceeds the specified numbers:

• Provision 1 – if total exceeds 250 students within 6 years of the first Certificate of Occupancy (6/27/2013), Legacy Farms is obligated to pay $500,000 to the schools.
• Provision 2 – if total exceeds 266 during the period of time expiring 1 year after the date of the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the final dwelling unit or the expiration of 18 years from the filing of the Notice (18 years from 7/31/2012), whichever is earlier, a one time payment of $270,000 for each increment of 30 students is required.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) had originally certified an enrollment number of 355 K-1 students for the Marathon School on Hayden Rowe Street. The Marathon School is currently under construction, and is slated to replace Center School in fall 2018. However after last year’s updated projections, the town voted at Special Town Meeting in January 2017 to spend $1.5 million to add 4 additional classrooms to the Marathon School. As of 10/1/17 Hopkinton Public Schools currently has 461 students enrolled in Grades K-1.

HPS Historic Enrollment & Projections by Year

HPS 2017-18 Enrollment by Grade (as of 10/1/17)