The St Joseph School District reports an increase of 20 students for the 2012-2013 school year. In a news release Friday, district officials pegged enrollment at 11,473.

Dr. Melody Smith, Superintendent of Schools, says the 1,004 kindergarten students enrolled this year are believed to be the largest kindergarten class since 1996. Smith calls that a positive sign for the future. The class was large enough that the district added four more sections since the first day of school.

The district’s elementary schools say an increase of 60 students for the year at 6,286 students. Middle school enrollment dropped by 29 students. In the high schools, enrollment increased by 42, at 3,279 students.

The number of English Language Learner students, who received English as a Second Language services, increased to 424 from 345 a year ago. The number of Language Minority students was up to 569 from 530 a year ago. These students who may be fluent in English but come from homes in which another language is spoken.

District officials say the seventh day enrollment figures are used to fine-tune staffing levels. Doug Flowers, the Director of Human Resources, says the process went smoothly, but said three teachers had to be moved to accommodate class size guidelines by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.