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

Paul Craft Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction | https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-craft-5b033a4a/

By EC Ohio News

Jun 28, 2025

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.

Belmont County Enrollment by Grade - Yearly Comparison

Pre-kindergarten Enrollment in Belmont County Schools for 2023-24 School Year

School name	# of Pre-kindergarten Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
Barnesville Elementary School	73	13.9	527
Union Local Elementary School	66	11	599
The Bridgeport School District - Elementary	56	16	351
Jefferson Ave Elementary School	49	21.4	229
Bellaire Elementary School	47	9.6	491
Anna Marie Ayers Elementary School	36	6.7	537
St. Clairsville Elementary School	32	5.1	628
Powhatan Elementary School	0	0	190
Union Local Middle School	0	0	326
Union Local High School	0	0	387
Shadyside High School	0	0	277
Leona Ave Middle School	0	0	184
St. Clairsville High School	0	0	455
St. Clairsville Middle School	0	0	512
The Bridgeport School DIstrict - Middle School	0	0	224
The Bridgeport School District - High School	0	0	167
Barnesville Middle School	0	0	422
Barnesville High School	0	0	338
Martins Ferry High School	0	0	362
Martins Ferry Middle School	0	0	401
Bellaire Middle School	0	0	335
Bellaire High School	0	0	291