-
January 28, 2022BY TANYA CONNOR | THE CATHOLIC FREE PRESS
Enrollment is up in most of the diocese’s schools this year.
Looking at enrollment figures for 23 parish, private and diocesan schools, 17 have increased enrollment. Five schools have decreased enrollment. One has no change from last year.
David Perda, superintendent for Worcester Catholic schools, credits hard work that the schools did to operate safely during the pandemic.
“Many of the public schools were closed for in-person education,” so we were able to get new families into our schools. I think what we’re observing here is those families appreciating what they received in Catholic education, Superintendent Perda said.
One of the best marketing tools for Catholic schools is word of mouth, he explained.
“Hopefully it’s like a snowball,” he said. “That ball starts to roll and it gets bigger and bigger.”
In Webster, Joan Matys, head of school at All Saints Academy, notes, “Since I came on board in 2018 our enrollment has increased every year.”
During the pandemic, schooling was in person, while other schools were not, she said. Families knew that “being in person is better” than learning remotely. And All Saints had a remote option for students affected by COVID. “We were fortunate we had the space,” Mrs. Matys said. She said they left six feet between students’ desks, and extended each grade into two classrooms. They hired additional instructional aides to work in the classrooms the teachers were not in. The teacher taught in one classroom in person, and the other classroom and those at home via a TV monitor. Every other day the teacher and instructional aide switched classrooms, so all students had some in-person learning with their teacher.
“We stayed open,” Mrs. Matys said, and that brought people back this year.
Enrollment for All Saints was 184 in 2017-2018, 188 in 2018-2019; 192 in 2019-2020, 202 in 2020-2021 and 209 this academic year, according to Mr. Perda.
Enrollment also climbed at St. Peter Central Catholic Elementary School in Worcester. Principal Meg Kursonis said the school enrollment is now at 358. Diocesan figures indicated 339 in 2019-2020 and 332 last year.
Last year staff and students had to social distance, the principal explained. This year, with those guidelines relaxed, they were able to take more students. Preschool enrollment climbed from 28 last year to 54 this year, which is about the number of preschoolers they’d had in the past, she said.
“We picked up new students, pretty much in every grade,” she said.
“Worcester is a whole different picture” than it was years ago, when one’s extended family all lived nearby, Mrs. Kursonis said. “We have a lot of immigrants with no family in the area. Some of them are from warm climates and they’re freezing in the winter.” Last summer three families moved to warmer states, she said. Some parents not from Worcester work at local colleges, which become a stepping stone for opportunities elsewhere, she added.
