Enrolment for Pemberton Secondary School is significantly higher than expected this year, according to enrolment data shared at School District 48’s (SD48) public board meeting Oct. 9.
While elementary enrolment fluctuated slightly in SD48, middle and secondary school enrolment went up “significantly” at Pemberton Secondary School.
Last year, there were 280 students enrolled, which increased to 334 this year. Considering how small Pemberton is, the increase was considered “huge” by board members.
Howe Sound Secondary also saw a notable increase in students, jumping from 722 to 779.
Whistler Secondary School, on the other hand, dropped from 499 to 462 students.
Assistant superintendent Paul Lorette explained in an email the sizable increase in Pemberton came from an influx of elementary students.
“The 'bubble' that was referred to at the October Board of Education meeting refers to a situation where there is a large class of younger students moving up through the system. There was a large Grade 7 cohort of students that transitioned to Pemberton Secondary and there was a smaller Grade 12 group that left the school last year,” he said.
Because the Ministry of Education and Childcare funds schools on a per-student basis, PSS received increased funding to support staffing requirements, according to Lorette.
In total, the “headcount” of in-person students in the district amounts to 5,133 enrolled in Kindergarten through to Grade 12, with an additional 188 international students.
The number of full-time enrolled students, which is the total number of courses students are signed up for, plus distance learners, is 5,337.
The number of students in the district increased by 33 from last year (5,100 to 5,133), which Lorette described as “stable” growth.
District enrolment trends
Eight-year district enrolment trends in the largest communities, Pemberton, Squamish and Whistler, shows Squamish school enrolment consistently growing each year. In 2023, Squamish had 3,244 students, and this year it has 3,313.
Pemberton’s enrolment over eight years has stayed relatively flat, but between 2023 and 2024 enrolment went from 725 students to 769.
Whistler’s overall enrolment over the last eight years has decreased, with fewer students in 2024 (1,051) compared to 2023 (1,081). Enrolment this year is less than what it was eight years ago, too, with 1,084 students in 2017.
When asked by a fellow board member about the increases in Pemberton overall, Lorette said he wasn’t sure exactly what the reason was, though some board members speculated it had to do with new housing development in Pemberton.
He noted district-wide, there was a large cohort of Kindergarten students about six or seven years ago and that cluster is moving through the education system, and at the same time, there were fewer kids in high school.
“So that big cluster of kids from five years ago are moving up and so our middle school and our high schools are growing quite a bit. And then kindergarten registration for the last couple of years has kind of levelled off and even gone down a little bit. So, kindergarten is kind of slowing, but our overall numbers continue to grow,” he said.
French immersion
French immersion has “levelled off and declined” over the last few years, a trend happening provincially.
“We did do a French immersion review last year, and one of the things that we learned is that more families are realizing or finding earlier on that perhaps French immersion may, for whatever reason, not be a good fit for the family, for the child, and so we have we have students leaving the program in Grade 1 [or] 2,” Lorette said.
“That didn’t happen as much in the past, so the conclusion that we’re coming to is families are more likely to leave the program if it isn’t working, rather than sticking with it for a longer time.”
For a full breakdown of enrolment in SD 48, watch the board meeting on Youtube.
