Dowagiac Union Schools tallied unofficial enrollment numbers after the official count day Wednesday, measuring current enrollment figures against their projections from before the academic year started.

After a series of four preliminary count days before the official count Wednesday, three Dowagiac schools fell below projections. Dowagiac Middle School, Justus Gage and Kincheloe elementary schools showed lower numbers in enrollment after fluctuations that alluded to possible rises in their enrollment. All Dowagiac schools, except for Pathfinders, were projected higher than what unofficial numbers proved in Wednesday’s count.

Justus Gage unofficially has the lowest enrollment numbers of the district, with an estimate of 342 students and a count of 316 on Wednesday, lacking 26 more students than expected. DMS’s enrollment projections were 11 students lower than the Oct. 3 count, which measured 506 kids at the school. Kincheloe projections were 11 students less than the 284 expected by school administrators, counting only 273 students.

Patrick Hamilton Elementary School was the only district building to break even on predictions of enrollment, with a projection and count of 281.

All other district schools unofficially reported a rise in enrollment, with Sister Lakes Elementary School stating a count of 31 more students than expected. Dowagiac Union High School counted two more students on Wednesday than the expected 658.

The Dowagiac Union Schools administrative office is currently working to finalize enrollment numbers for the all the schools. Unofficially, the district welcomed 11 more students overall, from a projection of 2,363 to 2,374 in attendance on count day.