Success breeds growth: Kenilworth Science and Technology enrollment rises

Baton Rouge, La — Kenilworth Science and Technology Charter School is starting the 2012-13 school year with an impressive 11 percent increase in its student enrollment.

At the beginning of 2011-12 school year, KST had 475 student enrolled. On Monday, the school had enrolled 530 students, Principal Hasan Suzuk said, and another 98 students are on a waiting list to get into the school.

One reason behind the rising enrollment is a high re-enrollment rate of former students, whose parents appreciate the quality of education, home visits from faculty and concentration in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) .

“This is my son’s third year at Kenilworth, and the progress he has made is wonderful,“ said Constance Stewart, mother of an eighth grader. “My son is now an honor roll student, and the opportunity he has had here has developed his personality.”

Another factor behind the rising enrollment is the positive reputation KST has received in the community.

“I heard that parents were very happy with Kenilworth and that the students had good test scores, so that’s why I brought my child here,” parent Theresa Griffin said. “Every parent wants a good education for their children.”

KST is a charter school operated by Pelican Education Foundation under the state of Louisiana’s Recovery School District. Formerly a part of the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, Kenilworth was acquired in 2009 by Pelican, a non-profit, Louisiana-based corporation, and has since operated as a state-sanctioned charter school. KST has seen three consecutive years of improvement in school performance scores and in LEAP test scores. Specifically, the percentage of students performing at grade level for all grades and subjects grew from 40 percent in 2009 to 53 percent in 2012.