Langston Hughes School first-graders Sam Mandigo, from left, Sarah Church, Christopher Stone and Yoav Gillath break into laughter during a performance of “The Great Alphabet Robbery,” put on by Ric Averill and Jerry Mitchell on Monday in the school’s multipurpose room. Enrollment numbers released Monday show that Langston Hughes is the largest elementary school in the district, with 510 students.

The official enrollment came as no surprise to Lawrence public school district officials.

The district has 115 more students than last year, with a total enrollment of 10,817 students. The largest jump in enrollment was at the Lawrence Virtual School, which added nearly 150 new students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

“The elementary level is where we made our gains,” Superintendent Rick Doll said. “From a growth standpoint, it’s better to be up at the elementary level than at secondary because those kids, hopefully, will stay with us and then go on through the system.”

The secondary level is down about 100 students, mainly because the high school program at the Lawrence Virtual School was discontinued for the 2009-2010 school year.

“We stopped the virtual high school, pulled about 90 to 100 kids out,” Doll said. “Then you look at the secondary numbers and they look about flat.”

Another reason for the lack of large increases is the economy.

“People just aren’t moving,” Doll said. “They’re hunkered down right now because the economy’s down.”

He said that once the economy turns around, Lawrence could return to the days of school enrollment increases.

“I think that Lawrence public schools continue to be an excellent, excellent draw for the community,” he said. “I think people want to move to Lawrence for many reasons, one of them being an outstanding school system.”

The official state enrollment count is usually on Sept. 20, but because that date fell on a Sunday this year, it was moved to Monday.