What are the signs that a parochial school may close?

[Anonymous]

Debt.
And sometimes the Diocese and/or parish can't or won't pay it off.

Add to it a low SES area/kids on scholarship (so basically no much gained from tuition) and you've got a hot mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Debt.
And sometimes the Diocese and/or parish can't or won't pay it off.

Add to it a low SES area/kids on scholarship (so basically no much gained from tuition) and you've got a hot mess.

I agree. Add tobthat schools that blow the reserve on fancy additions like turf fields and then end up in the red with no savings.

[Anonymous]

What schools are not in danger of closing. We are looking around in Bethesda and North Bethesda

[Anonymous]

Not cutting staff to match enrollment.
Not keeping up with important (non-cosmetic) maintenance issues such as the roof.
Dropping academic performance contributing to enrollment loss-- reinforcing spiral.
Caginess about finances.
Leaning on parents to pay for things they haven't in the past.
Not posting minutes of meetings, finance reports, or whatever other transparency docs they usually post.

[Anonymous]

What about Annunciation? We looked at it during COVID and felt like it would be on the chopping block eventually so went elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if St. Bart’s or Lordes in Bethesda will close?

Why our Lady of Lourdes?

[Anonymous]

St. Bart’s family here. We’re very happy with the school and feel the teachers and community are passionate and committed to the school. It’s very small, and some of the grades have a pretty serious gender imbalance, so if your child does not gel with the rest of their grade or wants more social outlets, it might not be a good fit. From the parents I’ve spoken with who left this year, this was their main gripe. It seems like a lot of the grades have broken even, even given the attrition, due to new students coming in. Just offering a different perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Bart’s family here. We’re very happy with the school and feel the teachers and community are passionate and committed to the school. It’s very small, and some of the grades have a pretty serious gender imbalance, so if your child does not gel with the rest of their grade or wants more social outlets, it might not be a good fit. From the parents I’ve spoken with who left this year, this was their main gripe. It seems like a lot of the grades have broken even, even given the attrition, due to new students coming in. Just offering a different perspective.

You can't seriously be happy with the upper school math situation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Bart’s family here. We’re very happy with the school and feel the teachers and community are passionate and committed to the school. It’s very small, and some of the grades have a pretty serious gender imbalance, so if your child does not gel with the rest of their grade or wants more social outlets, it might not be a good fit. From the parents I’ve spoken with who left this year, this was their main gripe. It seems like a lot of the grades have broken even, even given the attrition, due to new students coming in. Just offering a different perspective.

Girl, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Bart’s family here. We’re very happy with the school and feel the teachers and community are passionate and committed to the school. It’s very small, and some of the grades have a pretty serious gender imbalance, so if your child does not gel with the rest of their grade or wants more social outlets, it might not be a good fit. From the parents I’ve spoken with who left this year, this was their main gripe. It seems like a lot of the grades have broken even, even given the attrition, due to new students coming in. Just offering a different perspective.

Everyone that I know that left did so because of the principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Bart’s family here. We’re very happy with the school and feel the teachers and community are passionate and committed to the school. It’s very small, and some of the grades have a pretty serious gender imbalance, so if your child does not gel with the rest of their grade or wants more social outlets, it might not be a good fit. From the parents I’ve spoken with who left this year, this was their main gripe. It seems like a lot of the grades have broken even, even given the attrition, due to new students coming in. Just offering a different perspective.

Girl, please.

Others are absolutely entitled to their own opinions, but insinuating St. Bart’s is on the verge of being shuttered on an anonymous forum, and potentially turning off prospective families from even exploring the school, seems counterproductive to making the changes you feel are needed. The school needs to keep enrollment up to have the resources to invest in teachers and additional supports. We do not think the school is perfect by any stretch, but our DC is happy, learning a ton, and loves school, so we plan to stay as long as that is still the case, regardless of who the principal is. Just offering the perspective of a family that is mostly very happy with the school and who knows a lot of happy families there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will add:

Are theyvloosing functional space in the building? I.e. Has the parish taken the math room for office space?

Eh, a fully enrolled school with a healthy wait list due to its location in the Diocese of Arlington did exactly this! The parish/school took a math classroom and made it an office for the parish advancement staff. An entire classroom!

Functional classroom space that should be intended for learning was transitioned to an office space in which no student learning takes place isn’t exactly a sign of an at-risk school but rather a shift of priorities. In this case from student-focused learning to a Pastor’s desire for raising money he can spend.

[Anonymous]

They start using marketing terms like "dream team" to disguise the dwindling credentials of the faculty.

[Anonymous]

Parish stops investing in the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parish stops investing in the school.

This is the biggest key. When the parish says they don't have money for building repairs (for the school) or start pointing fingers. There are issues. When they ask the school and the PTO to start fundraising for HVAC, roofs, system repairs, etc. that is a HUGE red flag the parish does not support the school.

Parish grounds are the responsibility of the parish and they upkeep them for all the parishioners to use - the school, CYO, youth groups, scouts, ESOL classes, etc. When they start shifting financial burden for the upkeep to just one group (the school) it shows they do not support the school.