Increasing Student Mobility in Dickinson | Video

Alex Hagan | 10/10/2012

The new school year is well underway and enrollment is at record numbers in Dickinson. However Berg Elementary School principal Shawn Leiss has a new challenge to face. Schools are faced with more students coming and going throughout the school year.

"We have to spend time tracking down records, sometimes we don`t get the records right away or we`ll get partial records and you have to make phone calls to different districts."

In the 2010-2011 school year, Dickinson set a record high of 721 students coming in and going out. That number jumped to 960 students the next school year.

"Their parents are working in an energy related field and we also know that with number of students who have left the school district is because their parents can`t afford to live in the community anymore," said superintendent Douglas Sullivan.

Long-time residents are noticing their children spending time with friends from different parts of the country.

"People from Louisiana, Colorado. He tells me about the different people that are new to his class throughout the year," said parent Teri Clark.

There are also an additional 22 students in the English Language Learning program because of the mobility.

"I have had situations where we have a translator. I have worked with parents through a translator," Leiss said.

"We have hispanic students, but we`ve also had students from Africa," Sullivan said.

School teachers welcome the challenge of new students.

"You make sure that they blend in with everybody else and once they become part of the culture it`s easy, it`s an easy job," said sixth grade teacher Damian Sobolick.

But there will also be challenges for school administrators along the way.

School administrators say they plan to hire another English Learning Language teacher to keep up with increasing number of students in the program.

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