FORT MILL, S.C. — The first week of school over, and the Fort Mill School District is on track to have another record-breaking year of enrollment.
Families move to Fort Mill from all over the country, and one of the main reasons why is the quality of schools, but with some schools bursting at the doors-- how long will fort mill be able to sustain all of its top rankings?
A new study shows that of the top 25 elementary schools in the Charlotte area, nine of them are in Fort Mill. Tega Cay Elementary School came in at number four.
There's another number that district leaders are watching, though, and that's the enrollment number. One week into the new school year in Fort Mill and district leaders are feeling the squeeze.
School officials say they are up about 900 kids from the same day in the school year last year -- averaging 1,000 new students per year.
There are enough kids to fill a new school every year. Fortunately this year, Fort Mill has a new school -- Catawba Ridge High School.
"We were a one high school town and now we are a three high school town," Catawba Ridge principal Dee Christopher said.
Right now, three elementary schools and a middle school are under a freeze, meaning new kids to town will have to go to schools that are not in their neighborhood.
District leaders freeze the schools to keep the class sizes low until new schools can be built.
Fort Mill Schools Chief Communications Officer Joe Burke admits the award-winning district's formula for success is going to be tested.
Fort Mill boasts having some of the best teacher-student ratios around -- it averages one teacher for every 15 students. For comparison, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has one teacher for every 20 students.
With so many families moving in, Burke says there's only way to keep the classes this small.
"We will have to build more schools if this continues along this path," Burke said.
Two new elementary schools are slated to open next school year.
