Post by WeNeed3 on May 30, 2009 6:17:37 GMT -5
Catholic schools enrollments stable despite economy
By Anna Madrzyk and Kerry Lester | Daily Herald Staff
As are a number of Catholic schools, St. Alexander is struggling with declining enrollment.
So, the Villa Park school is marketing itself on the silver screen: 15-second spots tout its "warm and nurturing" environment, small classes and daily P.E. The commercials are running for 28 weeks at the York Theatre in Elmhurst.
"We thought we needed to do something a little different," said principal Glenn Purpura.
St. Alexander, which will recoup its $8,000 investment if just two additional students register next year, is one of several Catholic schools turning to creative measures to attract more students.
Declining enrollment and the tough economy are hitting some suburban Catholic schools hard, while others - blessed, in part, by demographics - are managing to flourish.
Overall, Catholic schools aren't losing as many students as they were several years ago, although the full brunt of the recession and job layoffs won't be realized until the new school year starts in the fall. And despite the high-profile, traumatic closing of Driscoll Catholic High School in Addison, which had its last day of classes this week, enrollment at most suburban Catholic high schools is stable.
"The fact that Driscoll closed is not an indication of the Catholic school system as a whole," said Doug Delaney, spokesman for the Joliet Diocese, which supervises DuPage schools.
A closer look at Catholic school enrollment figures shows the steep declines of five or six years ago have leveled off. Elementary enrollment in suburban Cook County Catholic schools has plummeted 31 percent since 2002-03, but dropped only 3.8 percent in the past school year. High school enrollment fell 8.5 percent during the same period, but less than 1 percent of the decline took place in 2008-09.
The pattern is the same throughout the suburbs. Enrollment in Lake and DuPage County Catholic high schools dipped just 1 percent in the past year. Elementary school enrollment fell 3.8 percent in Lake County and 1.4 percent in DuPage in the same year.
And in the Rockford Diocese, which oversees schools in the Fox Valley, high school totals held steady while elementary enrollment went up slightly.
"At this point, we're hopeful that families are continuing to choose Catholic schools," said Ryan Blackburn, director of marketing and communications for the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools, overseers of schools in Cook and Lake counties.
But despite this optimism, some individual schools are struggling, especially in older or less-affluent areas.
The Joliet Diocese has hired Meitler Consultants, Inc., a Wisconsin firm that specializes in strategic planning for schools and parishes, to analyze enrollment trends and make projections. The consultants recently submitted a preliminary report to Bishop J. Peter Sartain and the board.
"It's just a preliminary study to get an outside look at some of these issues, because it's so emotional," Delaney said. No decision on school closings or mergers is expected for a year.
"We're trying to do the best we can. We love schools. We'd like to keep them all open; it's just not possible," Delaney said.
Earlier this year, the diocese gave schools that seemed to be on the bubble an opportunity to make an early recommendation about their own fates. Christ the King School in Lombard, which had just 70 students in 2008-2009, will become an early learning center for ages 3 to 5 starting this fall.
Christ the King's final graduating class had only nine students. The school had no seventh graders and just two sixth graders last year - but 21 preschoolers. Ultimately, the preschool could serve as a "feeder" to Catholic elementary schools.
St. Joseph in Addison and St. Charles Borromeo in Bensensville will merge this fall as a new school, Holy Family Catholic School. Both buildings remain open - with preschool through fourth grade at the west campus and grades five through eight at the east campus - but about half the staff at both schools will be cut.
Other Catholic schools are finding success by offering programs that make them stand out.
St. Joseph High School in Westchester went coed, bought the shuttered girls school next door and gave a laptop to every student and teacher. Enrollment shot up from 505 in 2002-03 to 832 this year.
"We really have been on a roll and we're proud of it," said David McCreevy, the school's president. "In this day and age, we're grateful to have had the success we've had."
St. Pius X School in Lombard expects to have about 450 students next year, up from 365 in 2007-08. The school attracts young families with offers of flexible scheduling for preschool and full- and half-day options for kindergarten.
"We just try to meet their needs," said Principal Dan Flaherty.
In addition to art, music and P.E., St. Pius offers Spanish instruction starting in third grade. Thanks to $100,000 in grants from a trust with ties to one of the school's families, St. Pius offers state-of-the-art technology, including Smart Boards - interactive white boards - and laptops for teachers and students,
Flaherty, too, is thankful for his school's good fortune.
"We're all fine schools," Flaherty said. "Unfortunately, some of us have more resources than others."
Naperville, which has a large number of young, relatively affluent families, supports three thriving Catholic elementary schools. Registration for next year is up by about 30 students so far at All Saints Academy, the newest school in the Joliet diocese. All Saints opened in 2005 because the demand for Catholic education in Naperville was so strong the other two Catholic grade schools - Ss. Peter & Paul and St. Raphael - had waiting lists, said All Saints principal Dr. Sandy Renehan.
Still, the harsh economy is putting extra pressure on the schools, even in more affluent communities like Naperville. About 20 percent of All Saints' students get some help with tuition, which will be $4,990 next year, from the diocese, their parishes or a foundation.
"We have always had a scholarship model here," Renehan said. "We are all looking for ways to help our families."
Enrollment is stable at St. Edward Catholic High School in Elgin, but financial aid requests are up 25 percent, said the Rev. Edward Seisser, the school's superintendent. Tuition is comparatively low for a Catholic high school - $5,668 for residents of the Rockford Diocese - and will not increase next year, he said.
The school earned a record-setting $150,000 through its annual Tidal Wave fundraiser this spring, and another $55,000 in its annual appeal - despite the harsh economic climate.
"A lot of us were concerned about enrollments and the economy," said Sr. Patricia Burke, principal of Rosary High School in Aurora. "But we've found that when money is tight, (parents) look at things that are really important to them."