Any Private School Parents Seeing HUGE Drops in Enrollment This School Year?

[barkley]

ds started school monday, and i was FLOORED to find out that enrollment has dropped by over 50%

according to the staff it's because of the economy-they were flooded with financial aide applications, did their best to help as many people as possible but in the end even though they have'nt raised tuition in 2 years (hoping to make it as affordable as possible and our tuition is CHEAP to begin with) people just can't do it.

 

[triton45]

Same for my child's school. They had to let some of the staff go because of reduced class sizes.

 

[fun4me]

The private school my kids went to was prek-12th. This year they only have an elementary school. The same thing happened to my nephew's school(which is in another state). Their school was prek-8th. Now they are only an elementary school.

 

[freckles and boo]

A good friend of mine lives nearby within Chicago city limits. The have a very good little public elementary school just blocks away and she has sent her kids there. Until recently she considered her kids' school a well-kept secret. There was a lot of snobbery in the neighborhood and the majority of folks sent their kids to the local Catholic school because they wouldn't be caught dead at a CPS school. It seems the reality of the economy has diluted the idealism and enrollment is way up at the public school.

 

[Duchie]

I've heard that at one of the Catholic high schools in our area, their enrollment is down to 50% of what it normally is. In this case, poor school performance is the major factor but the economy is also having an impact.

 

[live4christp1]

Ours dropped last year to the point the school had to combine classes (1st & 2nd, 3rd & 4th, 5th & 6th). One teacher taught two grades. We tried to hang on but had to pull ours this year. It was a tough decision. We had enrolled them with the thought they would graduate high school there. DS had been with the same group of friends for 8 years. This year there are two of them left at the school (DS would have been #3). One of my friends at church worked for the early learning center (K1-K4) and she said they let her go right before school started back because they only had 18 kids in the whole building. Haven't heard how the rest of the school is doing.

Another area private school announced they were closing during the summer because their enrollment was down so much.

 

[ndelaware]

Actually enrollment is up at my kids pre-K to 12th grade private school. The school built new school rooms and a new cafeteria over the summer.

 

[Northstar]

Ouch. It's really sad to hear this and it probably means a fair number of schools will go under.

And it also means we're going to be hearing about the insane class sizes at public schools... and they're not going to be able to cope, either.

Maybe the public school boards can work something out with the local private schools so they pay the private schools to use their facilities for a year.. and maybe even employ some of their teachers... to handle the huge influx of students. Of course, they'd have to choose which students/classes to send over by lottery or something, and the classes would have to be public school curriculum.

That would help the private schools with their excess capacity-no revenue problem, and would help the public schools cope with their influx of students.
Or am I dreaming?

Anyway, I hope your schools are able to weather the storm. Something tells me you're going to be holding lots of bake sales this year.

 

[traviesojmt]

Enrollment is up at our private school. The principal said this past week that we are almost at max capacity and there is still many interested in getting on the waiting list. So far, the economy has not affected our attendance, but the school also did not raise tuition this year.

 

[Pigeon]

There are proposals to combine two boy's Catholic schools in my area because of hugely decreased attendance. My nephew goes to one. They are both expensive. The one my nephew attends just built a huge new campus a few years ago, and the other has made significant investment in a bunch of new buildings within the past couple years.

My sister taught in an extremely expensive Catholic all-boy private prep school up until recently. Their attendance has dwindled to almost nothing. They've got teachers teaching languages they barely know, and almost no one is certified in anything. Why anybody would shell out $20K/year for that is beyond me.

 

[castleview]

My kids are in public school, but most of my friends who send their kids to private are still doing it. Exception being the kids entering high school. For most of them, it's not negotiable.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

And it also means we're going to be hearing about the insane class sizes at public schools... and they're not going to be able to cope, either.

We are getting there. It is not "insane" but the school is affected now.

I went to my 7thg dd's orientation last night and I had to listen to the French teacher tell us that she has been kicked out of her room she had for 17yrs. since the school opened! They had to add another 6th grade team and since her classroom was on the 6th grade hall she got booted.

You can tell she is upset and this is my dd's French teacher.

Right now they have her "borrowing" classes to teach her students. It is stupid. She went thru a lengthy explanation of how our kids have to juggle the moving classroom.

I wish there was something I could say to the Principal, but they don't have the room.

 

[marlynnp]

My kids are in public school, but most of my friends who send their kids to private are still doing it. Exception being the kids entering high school. For most of them, it's not negotiable.

Same experience here. My daughter is in public school. We are in a very good district which may make a difference because the people sending their kids to private school do so entirely for religious reasons. Friends that do go private still are but I haven't heard of others that now have school-age kids, starting in private. I wonder if the largest decrease is being seen in first grade?

I think a lot of the schools are struggling with the fact that people used their services last year and never paid them - I'm not talking about the people who applied for financial aid, which I am sure has also increased. (I see one has had the gall to post in this thread and lie about the reason the children are not enrolled this year. Those Christian values are something else.) Anyway, I'm sure this year any decrease in enrollment is really having a severe effect due to the compounding of all these issues.

 

[minniebeth]

Still a waiting list our our kids' private schools...

 

[Kallista]

I'd rather see parents not enroll their kids, then not be able to pay the tuition.

If you can't pay, your kids shouldn't be in private school, but some parents just don't get it. They enroll their kids even though their budget can't handle it, and then the school has to decide on whether to boot a kid out mid-year because of non-payment (which is hard on the kids that leave and hard on the kids that stay) or hope that the parent pays eventually. It's especially frustrating when we see parents buying new cars or other toys or taking expensive vacations, rather than paying their tuition bill.

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I am really surprised to hear of the private schools that are still busy. All of the private schools here in South Florida are really hurting. Lots of faculty lay offs and enrollments down 25 - 50%. It's a very sad time for private schools here.

 

[lovetonap]

There are still waiting lists at the private schools that I'm familiar with here. I have heard that some of the waiting lists have shrunk, but there are still more applicants than available spots.

 

[rie'smom]

I'd rather see parents not enroll their kids, then not be able to pay the tuition.

If you can't pay, your kids shouldn't be in private school, but some parents just don't get it. They enroll their kids even though their budget can't handle it, and then the school has to decide on whether to boot a kid out mid-year because of non-payment (which is hard on the kids that leave and hard on the kids that stay) or hope that the parent pays eventually. It's especially frustrating when we see parents buying new cars or other toys or taking expensive vacations, rather than paying their tuition bill.

At the private schools here, tuition is prepay only. If tuition is not paid by July for the upcoming year, the student's name is dropped and someone from the waiting sit takes that place.

 

[wdwfan16]

Same experience here. My daughter is in public school. We are in a very good district which may make a difference because the people sending their kids to private school do so entirely for religious reasons. Friends that do go private still are but I haven't heard of others that now have school-age kids, starting in private. I wonder if the largest decrease is being seen in first grade?

I think a lot of the schools are struggling with the fact that people used their services last year and never paid them - I'm not talking about the people who applied for financial aid, which I am sure has also increased. (I see one has had the gall to post in this thread and lie about the reason the children are not enrolled this year. Those Christian values are something else.) Anyway, I'm sure this year any decrease in enrollment is really having a severe effect due to the compounding of all these issues.

I noticed that too!

 

[minniebeth]

At the private schools here, tuition is prepay only. If tuition is not paid by July for the upcoming year, the student's name is dropped and someone from the waiting sit takes that place.

ouch!