Is summer over already?
This came from the Census Bureau. It’s a bit premature, but interesting nonetheless.
“Summertime is winding down, and summer vacations are coming to an end. It’s back-to-school time! It’s a time that many children eagerly anticipate — catching up with old friends, making new ones and settling into a new daily routine. Parents and children alike are scanning the newspapers and Web sites looking for upcoming sales to shop for a multitude of school supplies and the latest clothing fads and essentials,” according to a Census Bureau press release.
Among the tidbits the Census sent, mere weeks after school let out in the state, are:
Back-to-school shopping
$7.1 billion
The amount of money spent at family clothing stores in Aug. 2006. Only in November and December were sales significantly higher. Similarly, sales at bookstores in Aug. 2006 totaled
$2.1 billion, an amount approached in 2006 only by sales in January and December.
For back-to-school shopping, choices of retail establishments abound: In 2005, there were 24,659 family clothing stores, 6,305 children and infants clothing stores, 26,416 shoe stores, 9,501 office supplies and stationery stores, 23,195 sporting goods stores, 11,077 bookstores and 9,589 department stores.
Students
75.8 million
The number of children and adults enrolled in school throughout the country in Oct. 2005 — from nursery school to college. That amounts to about one-fourth of the U.S. population ages 3 and older.
Pre-K through 12
55.8 million
The projected number of students to be enrolled in the nation’s elementary and high schools (grades K-12) this fall.
11%
Projected percentage of elementary and high school students enrolled in private schools this fall.
22%
Percentage of elementary and high school students with at least one foreign-born parent in Oct. 2005.
42%
Percentage of children ages 12 to 17 who participated in sports as of 2003.
75%
Percentage of children 12 to 17 who were enrolled in school and academically “on track” (i.e., enrolled in school at or above the grade level for peers their age) as of 2003.
24%
Percentage of children ages 12 to 17 who were in a special class for gifted students or did advanced work in any subject, such as honors and advanced placement classes, as of 2003.
41%
Percentage of children ages 12 to 17 who had ever attended or been enrolled in first grade or higher and had changed schools at some point as of 2003.
Languages
10.5 million
Number of school-age children (ages 5 to 17) who speak a language other than English at home, about one in five in this age group. Most of them (7.5
million) speak Spanish at home.
Lunchtime
30.1 million
Average number of children participating each month in the national school lunch program in 2006.
Learning and Earning
21%
Percentage of high school students who were employed as of Oct. 2005.
50%
Percentage of full-time college students who were employed as of Oct. 2005.
How Many Schools?
95,726
Number of public elementary and secondary schools in 2003-04. The corresponding number of private elementary and secondary schools was 28,384.
1.1 million
Number of students who were home-schooled in 2003. That was 2 percent of all students ages 5 to 17.
3,294
The number of public charter schools nationwide in 2004-05. These schools enrolled 887,000 students.
Teachers and Other School Personnel
6.8 million
Number of teachers in the United States in 2006.
$57,300
Average annual salary of public elementary and secondary school teachers in Connecticut as of the 2003-2004 school year — the highest of any state.
Teachers in South Dakota received the lowest pay — $33,200. The national average was $46,800. High school principals earned $86,938 annually in 2004-05.
$14.18
Average hourly wage for the nation’s school bus drivers in 2004-05.
Custodians earned $12.61, while cafeteria workers made $10.33.
Technology
14.2 million
Number of computers available for classroom use in the nation’s elementary and secondary schools as of the 2005-2006 school year. That works out to one computer for every four students.
100%
Percentage of public schools with Internet access as of fall 2003.
83% and 43%
Percentage of children ages 3 to 17 using a computer and the Internet, respectively, at school as of fall 2003.
75%
Among children ages 3 to 17 accessing the Internet in fall 2003, whether at home, school or elsewhere, the percentage who used it to complete school assignments. This was the most common reason for children to use the Internet.
66%
Among children ages 3 to 17 using a computer at home in fall 2003, the percentage who used it to complete school assignments. This was the second most common home computer use for children, behind playing games.
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Children now have access to the internet, so we can help them looking for an educational material like digital textbooks online ,homeschool worksheets or k 12 lesson plans to reforce their education….