LEWISTON – Remember those long, cold Ice Storm nights? Lots of candlelight. Nothing much to do.

Six years later, many say, the results have just enrolled in school.

Around the state, some elementary schools are facing larger-than-expected kindergarten classes. Sabattus Elementary School, which usually gets 45 to 50 kindergartners, this fall enrolled 79. Canton Elementary School, which had expected enrollment to drop, grew from a class of 10 or 12 pupils to a class of 16.

Tiny Minot Consolidated School got seven new kindergartners, a 25 percent increase from last year.

“We’re told that it was based on human nature,” said Assistant Superintendent William Doughty.

Lewiston, one of the biggest school systems in the area, received one of the biggest surprises.

Fifty additional kindergartners showed up for school this fall, increasing the class from 323 to 373. The city’s small Pettingill School got eight of those pupils while the larger Montello Elementary School enrolled 33, forcing the school system to hire two new teaching assistants. The city’s other four elementary schools share nine of the additional kindergartners.

Looking for reasons

It’s a sudden increase that has puzzled some Maine statisticians.

Maine’s birthrate increased only slightly in 1998, state officials said. In Androscoggin County, it went up by 42 – not enough to account for this year’s kindergartners.

“I can’t find any good reason for it,” said Rebecca Wandell, analyst for Planning Decisions, a South Portland-based agency that projects enrollment for Maine schools.

A surprise kindergarten enrollment could simply mean more parents moved into the area. That’s what the principal of Canton Elementary School believes.

“People camp up in Weld. They like the area, so they move here,” said Principal Kathy Richard.

Or a sudden enrollment could mean parents were attracted by new full-day kindergarten programs and decided to enroll their children in public school rather than expensive private schools.

That could account for some of Lewiston’s kindergarten boom, since the city began a full-day pilot program at Montello this fall.

“I suspect some of our increase is part of that,” said Montello Principal Gus Leblanc.

But local private schools haven’t lacked kindergartners, either. St. Joseph’s School, a Catholic elementary school in Lewiston, was forced to open a second class when 33 youngsters enrolled, compared to last year’s 25.

Many school officials believe the ice storm theory is the one that makes sense. And, besides, they say, the timing is right. Babies conceived during the January 1998 ice storm would be almost 6 years old this fall, just the right age to start school.

Said Sabattus Superintendent Paul Malinski, “Ice storms do do some positive things, apparently.”

Kindergarten boom:
Sabattus Elementary School, up 58 percent

Canton Elementary School, up 33 percent

Minot Consolidated School, up 25 percent

Lewiston schools, up 15 percent