Kingston Community Meeting April 2025
Planning for the Future of Kingston Schools
North Kitsap School District and the Facilities Advisory Committee (FAC) hosted a community meeting on April 16, 2025, to begin a conversation about how to strengthen Kingston schools and support students for the future.
The meeting began with an overview of current challenges facing the district, including demographic shifts, regional population trends, and projected enrollment declines over the next decade. These data points, shown in the presentation slides below, help highlight the need to begin planning for long-term solutions that ensure students have access to strong programs and learning opportunities.
After reviewing the data, attendees were asked to reflect on three key questions:
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What do our kids need to thrive?
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What makes the Kingston community unique or special?
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If you could make one change to benefit students, what would it be?
The meeting then transitioned to discuss one possible solution the FAC has been exploring: the idea of creating a combined 6–12 campus at Kingston High School. Community members were invited to share questions, ideas, and concerns to help the committee determine whether this concept should be studied in more detail.
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Slide 1 - Enrollment Forecast Development Map
The updated demographic report includes all projects noted on the map. The demographer worked with Kitsap County and City of Poulsbo to account for anticipated future development.
Slide 2 - School District Population by Age Group
Every decade, overall population of the district grows by about 5,000 people. However, the population of school-aged children has continued to go down. In 2000, 26.4% of the total population was under the age of 18. In 2010, the percentage dropped to 22.9%. In the most recent census, the population under the age of 18 declined to 19.5%.
Slide 3 - Births and Kindergarten Enrollment
The Covid-19 pandemic impacted the number of children born who attend kindergarten in the district 5 years later. Pre-pandemic, about 94% of children born in North Kitsap would attend kindergarten. Post-pandemic, the projections are between 84%-88%.
Slide 4 - Enrollment Forecasts (Low, Middle, and High Scenarios)
The demographics report provides a range of forecasts. The district is most likely shrinking and almost certainly not growing.
Slide 5 - Enrollment Forecast By Grade Group (Middle Scenario)
Anticipated enrollment by school level.
Line graph showing districtwide enrollment forecasts by grade group (K–5, 6–8, and 9–12) for North Kitsap School District from 2018–19 through 2034–35, using the middle scenario.
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Orange line (K–5) begins at 2,642 students in 2018–19, dips around 2028–29, then shows a slight upward trend to 2,182 by 2034–35.
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Green line (6–8) starts at 1,342 students and steadily declines to 1,091 by 2034–35.
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Purple line (9–12) starts at 1,817 students and also trends downward, reaching 1,453 by 2034–35.
Enrollment figures are listed in a table below the graph. Forecasts begin at the 2024–25 school year.
Slide 6 - Enrollment Forecasts By School
We are anticipating declining enrollment over the next decade at all schools except for Gordon Elementary School, which could expect to see a modest increase in enrollment.
Slide 7 - Capacity at North End Sites
The diagram compares enrollment capacity and long-term maintenance needs at five north end schools in North Kitsap School District: Suquamish Elementary, David Wolfle Elementary, Richard Gordon Elementary, Kingston Middle School, and Kingston High School.
The capacity of each site was determined solely by the number of teaching stations. The green fill represents the percentage of total capacity used. The calculations do not account for specific use patterns, such as break out spaces, small group spaces, or classrooms used for collaboration. It is possible that all portions of a building are in current use, but the building is still under capacity from a teaching station perspective.
Slide 8 - Capacity South End School Sites
Diagram showing 2025 and 2035 enrollment capacity and projected maintenance costs for five south end North Kitsap School District schools: Vinland Elementary, Hilder Pearson Elementary, Poulsbo Elementary, Poulsbo Middle School, North Kitsap High School. PMS Building 3 is the pool, auditorium, and music rooms.
The capacity of each site was determined solely by the number of teaching stations. The green fill represents the percentage of total capacity used. The calculations do not account for specific use patterns, such as break out spaces, small group spaces, or classrooms used for collaboration. It is possible that all portions of a building are in current use, but the building is still under capacity from a teaching station perspective.
Both middle schools and high schools are significantly under capacity. Running schools under capacity creates challenges for staffing and program offerings.