District enrollment increases by 1,400+ students
More than 1,400 new students have enrolled in PISD schools since the first day of school last year.
There were 11,958 students who started classes Wednesday across the district, which is an increase of 1,413 students over the first day of 2025. In 2025, there were 5,373 elementary students on the first day of school compared to 6,128 this year, which is an increase of 755 students.
“Fortunately, we just opened the district’s fourth middle school and ninth elementary school, which provide some relief,” Superintendent Donald McIntyre said. “But, with the growth rate we are experiencing, we will continue to feel that same pressure. So, it is good we have three additional construction projects underway.”
Every student population is experiencing growth.
The PSHS population went from 1,310 on the first day of 2025 to 1,422 this year. The Lovelady campus with 9th- and 10th-graders had an enrollment of 1,758 Wednesday morning, an addition of 296 students over the 1,462 students enrolled on the first day of school in 2025. Both high school campuses combined represent a total of 3,180 high schoolers, compared to 2,772 last year.
For the middle school level, there were 2,650 students who reported on the first day this year, which is up 267 students from 2,383 who reported on the first day in 2025.
In terms of total numbers, the 3rd-grade class has the largest enrollment for the first day this year with 980 reporting Wednesday, while both 1st and 2nd grade are both reporting 971 students for Wednesday.
“We have seven grade levels right now reporting over 900 students,” Mr. McIntyre said. “We believe we have the potential to hit 1,000 students this year at multiple grade levels. Fortunately, we already added additional teaching positions to try to accommodate the growth.”
The smallest class is the 12th grade at an enrollment of 669, but the junior class has an enrollment of 753.
According to Mr. McIntyre, growth is a daily occurrence for Princeton ISD. In fact, by the second day of school, student population had already increased to 12,144.
“It wouldn’t be surprising at all to have as many as 600 to 700 kids enroll over the next two weeks,” he said.
As the district prepares to keep up with this pace, work is underway on three building projects, which include two new elementary schools and one high school.
In addition, PISD is utilizing portable classrooms on a majority of campuses.
Banschbach Middle School and Carrell Elementary School both opened this year to provide overcrowding relief in the southern portion of the district, while elementary schools No. 10 and No. 11 will be ready for the 2027-2028 school year, one in the south and one in the north.
“We anticipate continued growth, which calls for more campuses,” he said. “Thankfully, we already have two new elementary schools opening next fall. These construction projects continue to be crucial based on the numbers we are seeing.”
