Superintendent of Schools Kristen Vogel provided an update on the District’s METCO program to the School Committee.
Every year, the District has a discussion on the number of new students to be admitted into the METCO program.
Last year, Lynnfield applied for a grant to increase enrollment by 10, as they were one of the smaller METCO districts. Lynnfield received this grant from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), so they are at 46 students this year.
Committee member Jamie Hayman said that one of the reasons the district wanted to expand was because it is one of the smaller districts and expansion “put us on firmer ground.” He asked if the number of students is still the “right place to be on firmer ground.”
Given the size of Lynnfield, Vogel said the mid 40s is a good number.
“Yes, I think so. You could explore becoming much larger, however, that requires a whole lot of infrastructure to be put in place for that,” Vogel said during a committee meeting in late January. “I think staying between 45 and 50 is really the perfect number for us as a district. It’s perfect for bus transportation… for Curtis (Lynnfield METCO director Curtis Blyden), you know for his ability to have a grasp and understanding of all of the students and all of their needs.”
According to Vogel, traditionally, between three and four new students are admitted into the METCO program each year. That number varies, however, based on the number of students graduating.
Looking ahead to the next school year, Lynnfield plans to admit four new students who are siblings of current existing METCO students.
“That would actually bring our total to 49 as we are only graduating one student,” Vogel said.
The following school year, Lynnfield will have five METCO students graduating and will not enroll any additional students to bring the number down to between 44 and 46.
In the 2025-2026 school year, Lynnfield will have seven METCO students graduating. For the school year 2026-2027, there will be five students graduating and then four the year after. With these years having the largest number of METCO students graduating, Vogel said she assumes they will accept three or four new students during those times.
Committee member Jamie Hayman noted that the 2022-2023 academic year was the first time that Lynnfield brought in new students who were not kindergartners and asked how that was going.
“Exceptional,” said Vogel.
“I believe it’s 17 students at the high school right now,” Vogel said. “I believe every student was either on honor roll or honorable mention. Every single student.”
Vogel said the new students that are coming to high school this year had a GPA over 3.130 in their first year.
“It’s excellent … All 17 of our high school students are engaged in afterschool activities,” Vogel said.