School enrollment jumps throughout Northern Virginia

Enrollment in Northern Virginia schools has skyrocketed throughout the past decade, fueled first by boom times and lately by the economic downturn.

In the expanding exurbs of Loudoun County, enrollment has topped 60,000, nearly doubling since 2000. Prince William County schools enrolled 3,000 more students this year, 2,000 more than officials had projected. Fairfax County recorded a record 172,000 schoolchildren this year as voters approved a $232 million bond measure for new schools. In the Arlington County and Alexandria school systems, enrollment has been on the upswing, reversing several years of decline.

School officials say two factors explain much of the growth: more immigrants and a weaker economy.

Census data released this month show that all the counties in Northern Virginia experienced an increase in residents who do not speak English at home. The rates are significantly higher than the national average of 19 percent.

In Fairfax County, for example, 34 percent of residents don't speak English at home, up from 30 percent in 2000, according to the census figures.

Larry Bizette, the school system's demographer, said one in four children born in Fairfax last year was Hispanic. Asians and Hispanics have higher birthrates than other ethnic groups in the county, he said.

But the economy, with its job losses and slow housing sales, might be a bigger factor than birthrates. In the inner suburbs, people who once moved up and out as their children grew older are staying put.

"Some families who had kids in private schools or anticipated putting them in private schools went to public schools," Bizette said.

Arlington schools had been losing students. No longer.

"We think people were going out [to the outer suburbs] to get bigger houses," said schools spokesman Frank Bellavia. "Then gas prices started going up, and our enrollment started going back up as well."

More than 20,000 students are enrolled in Arlington schools this year, up from less than 19,000 in 2000. Officials expect moderate but steady growth, so one high school is being rebuilt and another is slated for expansion and remodeling in a few years.

Enrollment in Alexandria schools also had been on the downswing for several years, bottoming out in 2006-07 with about 10,300 students. But in the past three years, enrollment has risen 13 percent, particularly in the lower grades. This year's enrollment is almost 11,700. Last year, Alexandria had the fastest-growing school district in the state.