North Country Leader

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.

School name	City	Total School Enrollment
Watertown Senior High School	Watertown	1,139
Carthage Middle School	Carthage	931
Carthage Senior High School	Carthage	846
Indian River High School	Philadelphia	796
Indian River Middle School	Philadelphia	725
General Brown Junior-Senior High School	Dexter	654
Harold T. Wiley School	Watertown	621
Case Middle School	Watertown	592
South Jefferson High School	Adams	589
Black River School	Black River	546
Calcium Primary School	Calcium	541
Indian River Intermediate School	Philadelphia	539
Belleville Henderson Central School	Adams	503
Maynard P. Wilson Elementary School	Adams Center	479
La Fargeville Central School	La Fargeville	467
North Elementary School	Watertown	440
Carthage Elementary School	Carthage	404
Clarke Middle School	Adams	404
Sackets Harbor Central School	Sackets Harbor	399
West Carthage Elementary School	Carthage	390
Brownville School	Brownville	372
Knickerbocker School	Watertown	360
Lyme Central School	Chaumont	345
Mannsville Manor Elementary School	Mannsville	330
Evans Mills Primary School	Evans Mills	329
Dexter Elementary School	Dexter	322
Ohio Street School	Watertown	311
Sherman School	Watertown	309
Guardino Elementary School	Clayton	264
Thousand Islands High School	Clayton	253
Alexandria Central Elementary School	Alexandria Bay	248
Alexandria Central High School	Alexandria Bay	225
Theresa Primary School	Theresa	193
Thousand Islands Middle School	Clayton	192
Starbuck Elementary School	Watertown	185
Antwerp Primary School	Antwerp	157
Philadelphia Primary School	Philadelphia	121
Bashaw Elementary School	Clayton	114