(Pre-kindergarten might keep kids -- and their parents -- in Maine)

The Kennebec Journal in Maine picked up an interesting pre-kindergarten trend this week, with a surprising finding. At a time when student enrollment is on decline in this northern New England state, more children are signing up for pre-kindergarten.

The enterprising story by Keith Edwards found that the number of students in a new pre-kindergarten program in Augusta is growing, good news in a state where the school-age population is on decline overall, according to numbers from the Brookings Institution . The worrisome numbers have forced schools to consider closing and consolidating at a time when there are 13,000 fewer students in Maine schools than a decade ago. The decline is fueled by the lack of growth industry in the state, where so many rural towns are no longer home to robust lumber, dairy and other industries.

It took some reporting on Edward's part to discover the new enrollment growth, and to note that a new free public pre-kindergarten program could be a contributing factor. According a principal quoted in the story, such programs can help families connect with schools and decide they want to stay in a school system where their child is receiving attention and encouragement and early on feels like part of a community.