Enrollment in Denver Public Schools continues to surge.

Another 1,481 students (early childhood education through grade 12) enrolled for the 2001-2002 school year, bringing the total number of students to 72,437.

According to numbers released this week by the Department of Planning, the new total was just 83 more than budget projections.

The growth means the district has added more than 10,000 students in the last decade.

In 1991, enrollment stood at 60,704. In 1989, enrollment stood at its modern-era low - 58,312.

The $305 million bond approved by voters in 1998 has proved critical to meet that growth - nine new schools were originally promised from that bond issue; a tenth school will be delivered, at no extra charge to taxpayers, due to efficiencies in the management of the bond funds.

This year, Greenwood Elementary School, Academia AnaMarie Sandoval, and Grant Ranch School all opened their doors for the first time.

"Denver Public Schools is thriving," said Dr. Wayne Eckerling, Assistant Superintendent for Research, Planning and Special Programs. "The growth is being met with the funds approved by voters three years ago and we are beginning the process of looking at another bond issue to meet expansion in areas of the city where we know the current rate of enrollment growth, such as far northeast Denver, continues to match or outpace our facility expansion."

Greenwood Elementary School is full and so are Green Valley School (which opened in 2000) and Grant Ranch School (in far southwest Denver).

New schools are coming out of the ground include a new elementary school in Montbello (the project name is Gateway Elementary), Lowry Elementary School on the former Lowry Air Force Base, a new elementary school on the former Stapleton airport site, a new middle school in north-central Denver, and a new middle school in Montbello (the project name is Parkfield Middle School.)

Highlights within the enrollment numbers released by the Planning Office include:

• Kindergarten membership increased by 236 students after three consecutive years of decreases.
  
• The current enrollment for kindergarten through fifth grade is at its highest level since 1973.
  
• Hispanic students represent 54.9 percent of the district - up from 53.4 percent a year ago. That means another 2,089 Hispanics are enrolled in DPS (39,791 in all).
  
• The percentage of Asian students also climbed, slightly, to 3.3 percent of the student population.
  
• The percentage of African-American (19.7 percent), white (20.9 percent) and American Indian students (1.2 percent) all declined.