Our Lady of the Valley increases enrollment

Our Lady of the Valley Regional School in Uxbridge has 195 students registered for the 2021-2022 school year, up from 181 last year at this time, said Principal Edward Reynolds.  

“We expect that we will be over 200 by the time school begins,” he said. “We could take as many as 220,” and 240 once the new GRACE Center opens and grades 7 and 8 are moved there.   

The target date to bless and open the Grace Rett Athletic Complex and Education Center behind the school is Jan. 3, and fund-raising efforts continue, he said. (The building is named for a popular alumna who died in January 2020 in a  

motor vehicle accident while a student at the College of the Holy Cross.)  

Asked why the jump in enrollment, Mr. Reynolds said, “I think there’s a lot of excitement about the school, especially related to the GRACE Center. It’s garnered a lot of publicity. People are finding out about us and they’re discovering that we have an outstanding, faith-based, academically rigorous Catholic education.  

“I think by doing an extraordinary job of navigating the COVID crisis, I think that affirmed our current families and attracted new families,” he continued. The school had in-person learning all of last year, and also offered a remote option, he said. The number of students studying remotely instead of in person decreased as the year went on, he said.   

– Tanya Connor