How many students are in Henry County Schools? Is the rate of new construction causing a significant increase? Many may be surprised to learn the number of students in HCS hasn’t really changed from 2019 to 2024.
Henry County Schools had 43,009 students in October 2019. That number was 43,012 students, a difference of three students, in October 2024. That’s according to data made available by the Georgia Department of Education.
HCS Number of Students 2024
The state of Georgia shares student enrollment numbers twice annually. Those reports are in October and March, once per semester. This data set provides historic enrollment counts back to 1994. The Henry Reporter reviewed this data for the charts below.
As many are familiar, Henry County experienced tremendous population growth in the 2000s and 2010s. This growth is also evident in the number of students. From 2000 to 2019, the district grew from 23,600 to 43,000 students.
Most of the schools in Henry County opened during this period. Thirty schools opened between 1998-2014, based on historic records of education SPLOST projects. It was ten years before the next new school, Birch Creek, opened in 2024.*
Since then, however, the number of students has seen only minor fluctuations. Student enrollment dropped 600 students from 2019 to 2020. This can presumably be attributed to more parents opting for private school or homeschool during the pandemic. The number of students then increased for two consecutive years to a high of 43,417 in October 2022. In the past two years a downward trend has returned. HCS had 43,012 students in October 2024.
The below chart is interactive. It has student enrollment numbers from 2000 to 2024:
Enrollment by Cluster
After considering that overall enrollment hasn’t really changed, it can be interesting to then look at the enrollment by school cluster. Despite little change in the district enrollment, most clusters have seen a change.
A couple observations by The Henry Reporter:
- the Dutchtown cluster has seen a minor change, only 50 students, from 2019 to 2024.
- the Eagles Landing cluster was the smallest, by enrollment, until the opening of Birch Creek Elementary. The smallest cluster is now Woodland.
- the Hampton cluster has decreased 300 students in the past five years.
- the Locust Grove cluster has increased by 200 students.
- the Luella cluster saw an increase of 250-300 students before the opening of Birch Creek Elementary shifted some of its students to the Eagles Landing cluster.
- the McDonough cluster was steadily increasing until the opening of Birch Creek.
- the Ola cluster has experienced the greatest decrease in enrollment, almost 800 students.
- the Stockbridge and Woodland clusters have decreased 300 and 400 students, respectively, and
- the Union Grove cluster has seen the least change, a difference of 19 students from 2019 to 2024.
Classroom Capacity
The district last completed its classroom capacity study in 2020. The study looked at data from the 2019-2020 school year. At the time, the study found the district had a 69% utilization rate. This measures how much of the district’s classroom capacity was in use. It estimated student enrollment would continue to increase, based on historic trends. The data shared above shows that estimate didn’t pan out.
The district completes a classroom capacity study every five years. The latest study is underway this school year. Its findings may be published as early as this spring. The Henry Reporter will share them when they’re made available.
*Editor’s note: The opening of McDonough High and Middle in 2019 were replacement buildings for Henry County High and Middle. Birch Creek Elementary was the first all-new school with a new staff, attendance zone, etc. since Hampton High in 2014.
Featured image shows a map of the Henry County high school attendance zones. Clayton Carte / The Henry Reporter map created with Datawrapper.
