Tag: enrollment

On
Fr. Bart Timmerman, For the Catholic Herald

Immaculate Heart of Mary School nears record enrollment

Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Monona has increased its enrollment by 49 percent, primarily due to recruiting Hispanic and Asian students through its Catholic School Advantage Program. (Contributed photo)

MONONA — Five years ago, a trend toward decreasing enrollment at Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) School in Monona had become an increasing concern.

To respond to this concern, a five-point strategy was implemented to retain and increase school enrollment.

Five-point plan

The five-point plan included:

  1. Prayer — putting faith in God to provide opportunities for increasing enrollment
  2. Public school partnership — becoming a 4K site for the Monona Grove School District
  3. Retention — commitment to improving student retention between elementary and middle school
  4. Outreach — implementing the Catholic School Advantage (CSA) Program for Hispanic immigrant families
  5. Enrollment management — hiring a development director to focus on building and retaining enrollment
Exciting new program

Since implementation of the plan, with God’s help, this five-point strategy is working.

One of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of this strategy is the Catholic School Advantage (CSA) program. This program is a ground-breaking student recruitment effort that reaches out to Hispanic-immigrant students from families who want to send their children to a Catholic school, but are unable to afford tuition.

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On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Opportunity knocking: Catholic school answers the call by recruiting Hispanic students

Although there are still many strong Catholic schools across the United States, trends show a continuing decline in the number of Catholic schools and students attending those schools.

According to data from the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA), in the past 10 years, the number of Catholic schools across the country has decreased by 23.8 percent from 8,114 to 6,841. The enrollment in Catholic schools has dropped by 23.4 percent from 2,320,651 to 2,031, 455.

Most of the enrollment decline has been experienced at the elementary school level. It is estimated that there are almost 700,000 empty seats existing in Catholic schools.

Number of Hispanic Catholics growing

The number of Hispanic Catholics in the United States is growing by leaps and bounds. Hispanics now comprise 35 percent of all Catholics and 67 percent of practicing Catholics aged 18 to 34, according to a Notre Dame report, To Nurture the Soul of a Nation: Latino Families, Catholic Schools, and Educational Opportunities (December 2009).

According to the report, only about three percent of Hispanic students currently attend Catholic schools. Many families would like to send their children to Catholic schools, but they think they can’t afford to do so.

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