By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press
The pandemic and other factors seem to have affected St. Anna Elementary School in Leominster in both positive and negative ways.
Renée Legendre, principal, said Aug. 10 that 227 students were enrolled for the coming school year, up from 205 at the end of the previous school year, and she expected about three more students to enroll.
The increase is despite the loss of some of last year’s students. Mrs. Legendre said the school graduated 13 eighth-graders last spring and lost five to 10 students who came in from public schools last year because their schools were not offering in-person learning.
She tried to help families if tuition costs triggered their departure, but some people are reluctant to accept financial assistance, she said.
All of the students in last year’s grades 6 and 7 returned except for two who moved to Florida, she said. Historically St. Anna’s has lost students in that age group to Catholic junior/senior high schools.
St. Anna’s also gained new students this year, and has waiting lists, Mrs. Legendre said.
“I could have three kindergartens” if the school building was large enough, she said. At one point there were more than 40 kindergartners wanting to attend, but she had to cap acceptances at 26, she said.
There’s only enough space for one classroom for each grade, she said.
St. Anna’s has its limit of 20 pre-schoolers (ages 3 and 4) and 20 pre-kindergartners (ages 4 and 5), Mrs. Legendre said. Kindergarten through grade 8 can accommodate 25 or 26 students each, up from 20 last year. That’s with students’ desks three feet apart, the minimum distance required last year, she said.
There are waiting lists for the pre-school and the pre-kindergarten, Mrs. Legendre said.
“I don’t think that’s unusual,” she said; classes for those ages are in demand. And since St. Anna’s gives those students first rights for enrolling in kindergarten, some parents ensure a spot there by enrolling them sooner.
However, some families kept pre-schoolers and pre-kindergartners home last year because of pandemic uncertainties, and are seeking to enroll them this year, she said.
Mrs. Legendre said there’s a big waiting list – at least five students – for grade 5, for which all of last year’s 20 fourth-graders returned.
“That may be the age some schools are going to the middle school model … a larger environment,” and some parents may prefer the smaller community at St. Anna’s, she said.
Mrs. Legendre said she posts on social media and thinks St. Anna’s good reputation might be gaining more ground.
She also offered other possible reasons for new families seeking to enroll, based partly on what she hears from parents.
She said she would love to say they treasure the school’s Catholic identity, and that’s true for “a handful” who’ve moved into the area or previously had their children in public schools. But more often they come because St. Anna’s is not a public school.
Some parents are unhappy with public schools, because of teachers’ union issues and fears that the teaching of critical race theory and sex education will skew the instruction their children receive, she said.
“Our teachers were here all year in person,” Mrs. Legendre said; they didn’t call for all-remote instruction like public school unions did. As for controversial subjects, “We’re not really skewing it one side or the other as far as race and sexuality,” she said.