These PPS schools are growing, while many others shrink. Here’s why.

Photo above of Taylor Allderdice High School students by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) district has been losing students for several years. Though the decline is slowing down, PPS lost another 270 students during 2023. And the current student body of 18,380 kids is projected to shrink by another 5,000 students by 2031, according to research shared in a new PublicSource article.

But some interesting data appeared in PublicSource’s story: A few PPS schools are growing, and writer Lajja Mistry explores what that growth is all about.

“Some struggling schools are making progress that’s attracting new students,” Mistry writes. “Of the district’s 54 schools, 18 saw increased student enrollment last year,” including Perry High and Milliones 6-12, known as UPrep — two schools characterized as under-resourced.

PPS tells Mistry that this is the first time since 2013 that they’ve seen any enrollment increases in K-5 schools.

What’s driving that?

James Fogarty, executive director of advocacy group A+ Schools, attributed the individual upticks – and the slower overall rate of decline – to expanded programming, community partnerships and building leadership.

Want to learn more? Click right here to read PublicSource’s full report.

This story was originally published by PublicSource, a news partner of Kidsburgh.org. PublicSource is a nonprofit media organization delivering local journalism at publicsource.org. You can sign up for their newsletters at publicsource.org/newsletters.