Hampton schools may be the victim of their own success.

Hampton school board members said Tuesday night that they might add a couple of teachers and several paraprofessionals to meet the needs of an unexpected influx of students to the district.

Total district enrollment for the 2010-2011 school year totaled 3,117. An enrollment estimate, released last month, had been 3,078 youngsters.

Officials said there were 54 new enrollments over the summer.

"We weren't expecting that kind of increase," said superintendent John Hoover, who speculated part of the reason could be the district's praise in Newsweek magazine over the past three years as one of the most desirable places to live. He also said the state of the economy was sending former private school students their way.

But no matter what the cause, the administrators at several district buildings -- the high school, the middle school and Wyland Elementary -- may have to reschedule some classes and add staff.

Hampton High School accounts for 1,122 of the district's total census, a high enrollment for the school, said principal Jeffrey Finch.

Middle school principal Eric Stennett said there were 21 more students in sixth grade and 10 additional in both seventh and eighth grades. "We haven't had that in 10 years," he noted.

Wyland Elementary School has 13 more students than last year. School board member Mary Alice Hennessey pointed out that both second and fifth grades were "maxed out."

Higher enrollments have led to larger class sizes at the high school, with 57 classes numbering more than 30 students. In part because the hiring process is time consuming, the board plans to ask district administrators to consider temporarily using substitute teachers and making greater use of the paraprofessional staff.

Lawrence Vasko, the board's finance chairman, pointed out: "We have two teacher salaries in reserve," which may lessen any impact on the district's budget, he said.

"We're in the process of sorting things out," Dr. Hoover told the board about the administration. "We'll come back to you next week."

The school board will meet at 7 p.m. Monday.

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