Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) lost a net 412 students to private schools in 2026, not the 4,100 that some have claimed on social media and elsewhere.

DJ Connelly, director of the MCPS Department of Planning and Construction, presented the data at a Monday, Nov. 2, school board work session in Rockville. The district shared September enrollment figures from 2025 and 2026 to address questions about where students went, as first reported by Bethesda Magazine.

"There are plenty of factors that do account for the decline in enrollment," Connelly told the board. "One of the [questions] that we wanted to discuss [was] 'where are the children going? … and well, all 4,100 students went to private school.' That's simply not the case."

The claim is wrong.

Fewer births, fewer international students

MCPS staff said the primary drivers of the 4,083-student enrollment drop are declining live births and a sharp decrease in international student enrollment. The district enrolled 2,150 international students during the 2025-2026 school year, down from 4,583 in 2023-2024, according to council documents cited by Bethesda Magazine.

Unofficial district numbers put current enrollment at 151,967 students. That is about 3,000 fewer than the roughly 155,000 the district had projected.

Private school and homeschool transfers

The board presentation broke down the transfers. In 2025, 1,756 students joined MCPS from private schools while 2,085 left, a net loss of 329. In 2026, 1,666 entered from private schools and 2,078 left, a net loss of 412.

Homeschooling showed a similar pattern. The net loss went from 73 students in 2025 to 82 in 2026. In 2026, 202 students joined MCPS from homeschooling while 284 left.

Combined, the net loss to private schools and homeschooling was under 500 students.

Closure study timeline

The enrollment decline is fueling a closure and consolidation study covering elementary and middle schools, along with an elementary school boundary study. The study has not identified specific schools in the Churchill or Wootton clusters or elsewhere for closure.

No school has been picked for closure, MCPS has said.

The district's online feedback form for the closure study closes Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 11:59 p.m., according to Moderately MOCO. Families can submit comments at mcpsstudy.org. A second round of community sessions runs Nov. 30 through Dec. 10, with four virtual and six in-person meetings.

The superintendent's recommendation to the Board of Education is due Feb. 4, 2027. The board's decision is scheduled for April 15, 2027, with any closures or boundary changes taking effect in fall 2029.