SCHOOL COMMITTEE: Malden Public Schools enrollment dips slightly, but many new students still arriving

Superintendent Dr. Sippel notes DESE reporting date of October 1 with numbers factoring into state Chapter 70 aid determination

By Steve Freker

The Malden Public Schools hosts one of the largest populations in the greater Boston area, consistently over 6,000 students for much of the past decade. Over this past summer, the number of students in the district dipped slightly, some 175 students — down about 2.7% since the end of the 2024-2025 school year in June — according to figures supplied by second-year Superintendent of Schools Dr. Timothy Sippel to the Malden School Committee. Supt. Dr. Sippel presented a real-time enrollment report along with updates on a number of topics, at the first school board meeting of the new school year earlier this month. Included was a detailed report on “Back to School 2025” in the district.

At the conclusion of the report, Mayor Gary Christenson, who also serves as Chairperson of the School Committee, gave the Superintendent a glowing compliment. “I have been involved with the School Committee as a member, in my first elected office, and then as Mayor for the past 14 years — over 25 years and seven or eight superintendents in all, and that report was by far the best I have ever heard at a Malden School Committee,” Mayor Christenson said.

According to information supplied in the enrollment report, as of Sept. 5, the Malden Public Schools showed a total enrollment of 6,151 students. The last report at the end of the previous school year in mid-June showed just over 6,350 total MPS students. The fluctuation actually means several hundred students left the district over the summer, but another several hundred registered as new students as well. For example, at Malden High School alone, over 200 new students have been welcomed between August 1 and mid-September. These numbers are primarily transfer students who have moved to Malden in the summer months.

This all means the Malden Public Schools Welcome Center, which processes all incoming new students, “has been a busy place over the summer,” Supt. Sippel said. The Welcome Center, managed by Joan Federico, is tasked with processing information and records for new students as well as students who may have left the school district and are returning. Key checkpoints and submissions are proof of residency, academic records and medical records.

As of the first week of school, the populations of Malden Public Schools’ seven schools were: Malden High School (1,812); Early Learning Center, Pre-K (210); Beebe K-8 (921); Ferryway K-8 (891); Forestdale K-8 (507); Linden STEAM Academy K-8 (808); Salemwood K-8 (907). There are also 76 students who are taught Out-of-District as well as 19 students who receive services only.

At the meeting, Supt. Dr. Sippel also noted that there were over 125 more new students — headed to different individual grade levels across the district — “in the pipeline,” meaning they were still not finalized in the registration process. With most of those new students probably now registered and being educated in the Malden Public Schools, as well as any other new students now entered in the district, it is expected the total numbers of registered MPS students will be close to what the total at the end of 2024-2025 school year had been by October 1.

The October 1 date is key because that is the date the official school district population of students must be reported to the Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The reporting is essential and mandatory since the October 1 number of students in the district population is the most important determining factor in allocating Chapter 70 state aid to each district.