For five straight years, enrollment at Grass Valley Elementary School was on the decline.

A small school tucked behind the Oakland Zoo, Grass Valley lost more than 40% of its students between 2019 and 2024, according to district data. Casey Beckner, principal there since 2019, attributes the sharp drop to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw parents leaving all public schools in droves, and two years during which the school was slated to close , which pushed away families who wanted to avoid the upheaval of a closure.

Then last year, the trend reversed. After falling from 269 students in 2019 to 158 in the spring of 2024, Grass Valley began the 2024-2025 school year with 184 students. The difference, Beckner said? Adding transitional kindergarten.

“That is hands down the reason,” Beckner

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