Fifth grade students perform the song, 'Step up, Honor our Veterans,' during the Veterans Day program 'Salute to Our Veterans' hosted by fifth-grade students during an assembly at Fairmeadows Elementary School in West Des Moines, Monday, Nov. 11, 2013. The assembly was organized by fifth grade social studies teacher Rhonda Koerselman. Holly McQueen/The Register
The number of students enrolled in Iowa's public schools rose in 2013-14, the second yearly increase in a row, data released Wednesday by the Iowa Department of Education show.
A total of 478,921 students in kindergarten through 12th grade enrolled in public schools statewide for the 2013-14 school year. That represented an increase of 0.6 percent, or 2,676 students, from the previous school year.
The increases follow 17 years of declining enrollment. Iowa's peak enrollment was 645,000 students in the 1972-73 school year. ...