CEDAR FALLS - Enrollment at Price Laboratory School is down by about 15 students.

However, Dave Smith, the school's director, said he was expecting enrollment numbers to take a small dip this year after learning that four families, with a total of 12 children, were moving out of the community for job-related reasons.

"If you take that into consideration, our numbers are looking pretty solid," Smith said.

This year's enrollment currently sits at 355, but Smith expects that number to inch upward, even as early as next week.

Smith said he is excited for future incoming PLS classes.

"Our applications for students who won't start school for two years are looking good," he said. "We will have to wait and see, but our 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old classes and applications are higher than they have ever been.

The school also is seeing one of its largest classes move through the school; the sophomore class currently has 52 students.

However, this year's fourth-grade class has only eight.

"Typically those classes grow as they move along. That one is smaller than we would like, but since it is only one class, it is not a major concern," he said. "We have used multi-age classes in the past, but we are not doing that this year. We do mix our fourth-graders in with the third- and fifth-graders for some activities."

Contact Emily Christensen

at (319) 291-1570 or

emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.