Jefferson County Education: Which school had most students enrolled in 2023-24 school year?

Watertown Senior High School had the highest enrollment among Jefferson County schools, welcoming 1,139 students during the 2023-24 academic year, according to the New York State Education Department.

Data also showed that most of the students were white, representing 70.9% of the Watertown Senior High School’s total enrollment.

Among the 38 schools in Jefferson County, Carthage Middle School ranked second in enrollment numbers with 931 students, while Carthage Senior High School welcomed 846 students and came in third in the 2023-24 school year.

Watertown Senior High School is part of Watertown City School District, which roughly covers eight schools within Jefferson County and has a main office in Watertown.

In the previous school year, Watertown Senior High School also had the highest number of students among Jefferson County schools.

In 2022, New York had roughly one teacher for every 12 students, which is lower than the national average of one teacher for every 16 students. A lower student-to-teacher ratio has been found to improve students’ school performance.

New York State has proposed a $45.8 billion education budget for the upcoming fiscal year. This represents a $1.5 billion increase compared to the previous year. The most significant portion of this budget is allocated to schools, with a total of $35.3 billion proposed. The new budget aims at increasing funds for Foundation Aid by $507 million, mainly driven by rising inflation in the U.S.