FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — With just over two weeks before the start of a new school year, Forsyth County Schools officials are expecting a record number of enrolled students to walk through classroom doors.
Superintendent Jeff Bearden said at a July 18 Board of Education meeting the district’s registration office is at capacity every day with hardly an appointment to spare.
“We were projected to grow by more than 500 students over the current year,” he said. “We think that number is actually going to be higher based on the number of students enrolling right now. We will certainly be well over 54,000 students as we get into the school year.”
By July 17, the school district enrolled 53,297 students, but Schools Chief Communications Officer Jennifer Caracciolo said the system anticipates a significant growth in the two weeks before the Aug. 3 semester begins.
To make the first day of school deadline, school system officials recommend parents register their students no later than July 28, Caracciolo said.
At the end of the 2022-23 year, Forsyth County Schools saw a total enrollment of 54,393 students.
Much like the county itself, the school district has consistently grown over the last decade. Since 2012, overall enrollment grew nearly 43 percent. Comparatively, the population of Forsyth County grew around 52 percent between 2010 and 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Census data further shows about 25 percent of the county’s population is under 18 years old.
At the meeting, Bearden said the school system also celebrated a “beam signing” for the new Midway Elementary School. The original facility, which was built in 1961, was earmarked for a new and larger location by the Forsyth County Commission in 2022.
“We are making great progress,” Bearden said. “Midway is scheduled to reopen next fall, and so we’ll go…
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