Aroostook County: 8,496 students were enrolled in schools in 2023-24 school year

Aroostook County schools welcomed 8,496 students in the 2023-24 school year, 1% less than the previous year, according to the Maine Department of Education.

Aroostook County had the sixth most enrollment numbers in the state.

According to the data, 51.5% of the students enrolled in the 2023-24 school year were boys, and 48.5% were girls, and 0.1% did not specify their gender or identify with either category.

Most of the students enrolled in the 2023-24 school year were white, representing 88.9% of the Aroostook County student body.

Within the county, Caribou Community School had the highest enrollment in the school year, welcoming 765 students.

While Maine’s public school enrollment has slightly rebounded from the sharp drop during the 2020-21 school year, it remains about 4% below pre-pandemic levels. The decline is partly due to an increase in homeschooling and more students completing high school early through college courses and adult education.

“Adult education enrollment is up, providing high school completion and job training programs to meet individual needs,” said a spokesman for the Maine Department of Education in an interview with Maine Public. Additionally, some pandemic-related factors persist, with “some parents choosing not to enroll younger children in school and older students who took on jobs to support their families during the pandemic and who are still counted on to provide that support.”

As of 2024, the average student-to-teacher ratio in public schools in Maine is 11:1, much lower than the national average of one teacher for every 15 students.