Enrollment at Buchanan Community Schools is up more than 50 students over last year at this time, according to figures released Monday by school officials.

Supt. Andrea van der Laan said Buchanan’s fall student count is 1,616 — an increase of 58 over last year’s fall count of 1,558.

It’s the district’s largest enrollment since the 2009 count of 1,620.

The increase can be attributed in large part to the recent closing of nearby Galien Township School District.

Buchanan has a cooperative agreement with Galien to educate Galien’s kindergarten through eighth-grade students.

Van der Laan said Buchanan enrolled 51 Galien students this year.

“We were thankful to get them,” van der Laan said. “That might help us out a little bit. We have a lot of things we are working on.”

Enrollment breakdown by building is: Buchanan High, 603; middle school, 353; Moccasin, 394; and Ottawa, 266.

Van der Laan is interested to see where the kindergarten through eighth-grade numbers are going to be next year without the 51-student boost from Galien.

“Kindergarten rates are going down, birth rates are going down and people are moving out of the state,” she said. “It will be interesting to see what happens next year, if we drop another 50.”