Lindbergh Schools’ enrollment is on the upswing and Superintendent Jim Simpson expects that trend to continue.

During the past five years, Lindbergh’s enrollment has increased by nearly 500 students, the equivalent of an elementary school, according to Simpson.

“… We are clicking over a hundred (students) every year, and that’s a lot,” he told the Call. “Our trends will continue. This has been going on for many years. We have grown an entire elementary in numbers in the last five years. Five-hundred students is an elementary, and we have actually added an entire elementary population. And in the next five years, we’ll do it again.”

During a Board of Education meeting last week, Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Services Brian McKenney reported Lindbergh’s enrollment for the 2012-2013 school

year is up 107 students over last year.

As of Sept. 26, total enrollment for the current school year is 5,958 students, up from 5,851 for the 2011-2012 school year.

Last year’s enrollment was the most since the 1981-1982 school year.

Elementary residential enrollment increased 57 students this year — to 2,483 from 2,426 last year, according to information McKenney provided to the board.

Over the past five years, elementary residential enrollment increased by 220 students, an average of 44 students per year.

“With no VICC (Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corp.) students in the elementary buildings to offset the residential increase, this equates to two to three classrooms per year,” McKenney wrote.

Total elementary school enrollment increased to 2,555 students this year from 2,508 last year.

Residential middle school enrollment increased 72 students this year — to 1,338 from 1,266 last year.

Over the past five years, residential middle school enrollment has increased by 166 students, an average of 33 students per year.

Total middle school enrollment increased to 1,380 students this year from 1,339 last year.

Residential high school enrollment increased 27 students this year — to 1,882 from 1,855 last year.

Over the past five years, residential high school enrollment has increased by 101 students, an average of 20 students per year.

Total high school enrollment increased to 2,023 students this year from 2,004 last year.

“Despite the current economy, please note our K-12 residential enrollment increase of 156,” McKenney wrote. “The district has had an increase of 487 residential enrollments over the past five years.

“Thus our district’s total enrollment has experienced a steady growth of 97 over the last five years …”

That increase is an average of 19.5 students per year.

“In the future, our elementary residential (enrollment) must be carefully monitored,” McKenney wrote. “In 2011, there were 396 kindergarten students. As of Sept. 26, 2012, 426 kindergarten students are enrolled, an increase of 30 students …”

In July 2011, the district closed on the $1.94 million purchase of the Dressel School building, which sits on roughly 10 acres at 10255 Musick Road.

The purchase of the Dressel School building will allow Lindbergh to address its increasing enrollment.

“… It’s lucky that we have Dressel,” Simpson told the Call. “Dressel is a godsend for us and is our relief valve. Because without that, in just a very short number of years, it would become untenable the number of students that we would have to put in the classrooms of our existing elementaries”.