Avielle Nemeth, a proud “Barber bear” — as a second grader at Barber Community Learning Center — was excited last Friday about checking career pathways at East CLC off her learn-about-them list.
Her excitement spilled into the thought of one day attending the high school itself and the chance to experience its pathways to graduation — from welding and automotive technology to marketing and healthcare. So much so that when she and her grandmother stopped to chat with Superintendent Mary Outley, Avielle jumped up and down to do her best bear impression.
It was all part of the first of Akron Public Schools’ community showcases this school year, one of the district’s strategies for retaining students after middle school. At East, elementary and middle school students, their families in tow, ran through the scarlet and gray corridors to see CPR demonstrations, try their hand at a virtual welding simulator or receive a crash course in financial planning. Outside, cheerleaders performed alongside the marching band.
As the number of school-age children in Ohio continues to decline, Akron schools are competing against private and community schools (public, tuition-free charter schools) within its borders as well as neighboring suburban schools, homeschooling and online learning.
(Carissa Woytach / Signal Akron)
The school’s state funding is largely tied to how many children it serves. So for every child who takes a different education option, APS loses money for classrooms, staff and services for the students who remain. The district receives state funding for each child who attends one of its 42 buildings — starting at about $4,800 per student. It receives additional funding for students with disabilities, children living in poverty and other factors.
“I want them to see the value of staying in their home district — and the relationships [here],” said Outley, who spoke to families from the East cluster who plan to attend the school once their children graduate from Barber and Seiberling CLCs (East CLC serves 6-12th grade).
“When you come in tonight and you see the students interacting with their teachers, it’s just high energy and it’s so positive. You may have a thought in your mind of what the school is — that’s why we encourage you to come and see for yourself.”
APS open enrollment underway through December 2026
Akron Public Schools’ showcases continue into November.
- 5-6:30 p.m. Oct. 22: Garfield CLC, 1326 Brown St.
- 4-6 p.m. Oct. 27: North High School, 985 Gorge Blvd.
- 5-6:30 p.m. Oct. 28: Ellet CLC, 309 Woolf Ave.
- 5-7 p.m. Oct. 29: National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM High School, 1156 Fourth Ave.
- 1-3 p.m. Nov. 1: Firestone CLC, 470 Castle Blvd.
- 5-8 p.m. Nov. 19: Buchtel CLC, 1040 Copley Road
Open enrollment does not guarantee a student the Akron public school of their choosing, as acceptance to some specialty programs is based on applications and other decisions are based on space. Open enrollment runs through Dec. 15.
East CLC principal wants students to stay in high school pipeline
Last school year, East CLC served about 900 students in grades 6-12.
It has seen enrollment ebb and flow over the past five years, jumping to more than 1,000 for the 2023-24 school year, then plummeting to 899 the year after that, according to state data.
At the high school level, the building has seen similar shifts throughout the past five years — a high of 631 students for the 2022-23 school year that has steadily dwindled to 475 teens in 9th through 12th grade for the 2025-26 school year.
Hard data on why families may leave East CLC, or any other APS building, is largely unavailable. They could transfer within the district, enroll their child in a community school or take a voucher to attend Archbishop Hoban, Walsh Jesuit or St. Vincent-St. Mary high schools.
Anecdotally, East CLC Principal Larissa Brown hears families’ concerns about attending her school, but she assured its future students it was a space “conducive for learning.”
“As our kids come in from our elementary schools, we want them to stay Dragons,” Brown said, referencing the school’s mascot. “When they come in, we want them to be able to see the different things we have to offer.”
After last week’s event at East CLC, APS is scheduled to host showcases this fall at Garfield, Ellet, Firestone and Buchtel CLCs and at North and NIHF STEM high schools. It is too early to tell whether the scattershot open houses are having a definitive impact on district enrollment, said Marcie Ebright, the director of APS’ college and career academies. The showcases are only in their second year.
But Ebright, and Outley, hoped it would build families’ confidence in their district and help more students choose their local high school than taking a voucher, open-enrolling in a neighboring district or opting for online-only classes.
The showcases coincide with APS’ open enrollment window for the 2027-28 school year, which allows families to select which public school to enroll in outside of their designated “home” school.
Transition years can trigger enrollment shifts
APS often experiences an enrollment shift during transition years — students moving from elementary to middle and middle to high school.
“For the most part,” Outley said of the potential pressure point, “it is the unknown.”
That unknown can push families to other education options, be those out of the district, or to APS’ own online platform, Akron Online.
“We would lose kids in that direction, too,” she said. “In my experience in talking to families …. It wasn’t always about the academics they were offering, it was sort of this next step, ‘I want [my student] to do something different, I don’t want them to go to a larger school, I liked my little, tiny elementary.’”
Outley recognized the anxiety that may push some families online can also cause a disconnect in services, and she hoped the showcases would bring some students back to in-person classes.
For years, the district hosted eighth-grade showcases at Quaker Square, busing its soon-to-be highschoolers over to the downtown space to see the high schools’ career tech programs, Ebright said.
“It was really kid-driven, for kids to come and see — which was really great and fun — but the parents weren’t there and the community wasn’t there,” Ebright said.
Driving the same path down Market Street from her West Akron home, Ebright saw open house signs for St. Vincent-St. Mary High School that invited community members and potential students alike into the Catholic private school. APS’ own NIHF STEM and Akron Early College high schools had long done something similar, she said, sparking the initiative to expand the effort throughout the district.
“It kind of took on a life of its own as the schools got involved,” Ebright said.
She took Garfield CLC as an example:
“You want the community to be proud of the really cool school they’ve got in their backyard and you want the elementary [and] middle school families to be really excited someday to get to be a Golden Ram.”
Akron’s showcase impact remains unclear
Akron Public Schools’ enrollment for the 2025-26 school year is better than initially projected.
As of Oct. 9, about 19,122 students walked the halls of APS’ schools, Outley said — on par with the 19,126 who attended for the 2025-26 school year.
The district had projected to dip below the 19,000-student mark, part of a 30-year trend within the district that has cost the school funding as the city’s population declines and families opt for other education options.
In the 1990s, APS served more than 30,000 students per year. Now, it is under 20,000 attendees per year. Those shifts, alongside burgeoning budget deficits, have led to conversations about potential school consolidations and further fiscal cuts for the district to stay afloat.
