SAN DIEGO – San Diego public schools have seen a modest bump in student enrollment for the second straight year, breaking a downward trend that has plagued other large urban districts in California.

Enrollment increased by 705 students this school year to 132,814 in district-run and district-sponsored charter schools throughout San Diego. Last year, enrollment was up by 294 students.

Smaller districts throughout San Diego County have also seen slight increases in enrollment, the result of a combination of efforts – from marketing campaigns to tracking down dropouts.

Superintendent Terry Grier attributes the turnaround in San Diego Unified School District to new programs that were established to meet specific needs and wants of parents. Schools have also seen physical improvements and renovations, paid for with the 1998 Proposition MM bond measure; and they have become more customer-friendly, thanks to an initiative established by former Superintendent Carl Cohn.

“I think our schools are becoming more desirable,” Grier said. “We are listening to our parents and students.”

Among the offerings: a new middle school at the old Memorial campus in Logan Heights that gives students of a struggling charter school there another option and the reinvention of Crown Point Elementary School in Pacific Beach as a music magnet program – nearly doubling enrollment.

Meanwhile, Grier has launched several programs aimed at bringing back students who have dropped out of high school. San Diego Unified even sent a band of administrators into the community to track down students who didn't show up the first weeks of school.

A similar effort to bring back dropouts boosted enrollment in the Grossmont Union High School District, which grew by about 200 students to 20,000 this year.

Increased enrollment translates to more state attendance revenue for the districts. Luring back high school students can help raise graduation rates.

In San Diego, enrollment this year had been projected to drop by 160 students, said Roy MacPhail, who oversees enrollment forecasts.

Among individual grades, the largest increase was in third grade, with 559 more students. More than 400 unexpected kindergartners showed up for school, and nearly 300 additional 11th-grade students surprised high schools.

“Now that we have two years of growth, this may well be a trend that will continue,” said MacPhail, adding that the total increase amounts to 0.5 percent.

MacPhail will analyze enrollment data to determine where students are coming from.

Last year was the first time in several years that San Diego Unified increased enrollment. By contrast, other large urban districts in California – the Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Ana and Fresno unified school districts – were still losing students.

Locally, at the suburban San Dieguito Union High School District, which enrolls students from south Carlsbad to north San Diego, interdistrict transfers have boosted enrollment that have been flat for the past four years, said Steve Ma, assistant superintendent of business. All told, 12,575 are enrolled in the district, up 119 from last year.

Enrollment in Poway schools grew 61 students to 33,272. San Marcos schools also continued its trend of increasing enrollment.

---