NATCHEZ &8212; Miss-Lou schools are 446 children larger this year.

Katrina is responsible for a chunk of the increased enrollment, but not the majority.

Concordia Parish schools and Trinity Episcopal Day School showed the greatest gains, though only one area school decreased.

Trinity&8217;s enrollment is 10 percent higher than it was before Katrina last year, but only a handful of the 37 new students are Katrina evacuees, Head of School Delecia Carey said.

Some of the new students are transfers from other local schools, she said, but Trinity also lost some students to other schools.

&8220;An increase in enrollment is always due to people coming from out of town,&8221; she said. &8220;It&8217;s people working for hospitals, agriculture, federal employees.

&8220;We think it&8217;s a great sign of the future for Natchez. It&8217;s really looking good.&8221;

The growth is concentrated to the elementary-aged children, she said, and has meant the hiring of new teachers.

Current enrollment at Trinity is 345.

Concordia Parish schools now have 4,042 students enrolled, a 359-student, or 8.8 percent jump.

Of the new students, 121 are hurricane evacuees.

Superintendent Kerry Laster said the district hired some new teachers after Katrina last year, and could stand to have a few more, though classroom space isn&8217;t currently available.

Vidalia Upper Elementary is very crowded, she said, and the lower elementary schools in both towns are full.

Laster said she hadn&8217;t spotted any trends explaining where the new students are coming from.

Enrollment at the only other school in Concordia Parish &8212; Huntington &8212; has increased by 16 students and is now up to 190.

Headmaster Ray King said his school has absorbed students from Catahoula and Tensas parishes.

The only local school to decrease in size this year was Adams County Christian School, which lost 10 students.

Headmaster John Gray said he knew some students had moved across the river and are now attending Concordia&8217;s public schools, but said he&8217;s also enrolled some new students from out of town.

The biggest changes at ACCS are in the lower grades as well. About three Katrina evacuees are still enrolled at ACCS. Total enrollment is 461.

Cathedral School, the largest private school in Natchez, has essentially stayed stable since the loss of about 100 students when International Paper closed, Principal Pat Sanguinetti said. Enrollment was temporarily boosted about 70 students after Katrina, but the number of evacuees has dwindled to less than 10.

Enrollment this year is 578, up two students from last year.

The Natchez-Adams School District grew by 600 children overnight after Katrina, but is now down to only about 90 evacuees.

Overall enrollment is up to 4,225, about 25 students more than the district had pre-Katrina last year.

And Holy Family Catholic School is continuing a steady numbers climb.

The school added a grade this year, fourth-grade, and 17 students from preschool to fourth.

After a drop in 2003, Holy Family added about 20 students in 2005. Now the plan is continued growth, Principal Rosa Demby said.

&8220;Our intention is to go to the sixth grade,&8221; she said. &8220;Though we don&8217;t have the space now.&8221;

The school has already bought some property and will be looking to expand, she said.