2023-24 School Year Enrollment: 359 pre-kindergarten students welcomed in Belmont County schools

There were 359 pre-kindergarten students enrolled in Belmont County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 2.6% more than the previous year, according to reports from the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce.

Barnesville Elementary School welcomed most of the pre-kindergarten students in the county, registering 73 students.

Within Belmont County schools, the highest student count was found in seventh grade, with the smallest class sizes seen in pre-kindergarten.

Statewide, Belmont County ranked 40th in enrollment numbers, with a total of 8,242 students enrolled in the 2023-24 school year. It was also ranked 40th the year before.

In 2022, Ohio saw an average student-to-teacher ratio of approximately 1:15, which is an improvement for the state and is lower than the national average of 1:16.

Despite the apparent improvement, this positive trend is overshadowed by a general decline in public school enrollments, which was accelerated by the pandemic. This decline, aligned with the steady number of teachers in the state over the last 10 years, has led to low student-to-teacher ratios.