Any update on St. Bart's?

[Anonymous]

The $500000+ that the community raised...What happens to it if the school closes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The $500000+ that the community raised...What happens to it if the school closes?

A lot of it is in pledges, so if the school closes the parish doesn't get it. I am not sure what happens to the monies that were outright donated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About 30 years ago the ADW shut Immaculata Preparatory School, one of the most academically rigorous all-girls high schools in the DC area. It wasn't for lack of enrollment. They wanted to sell off the prime real estate. That's not the case with St. Bart's but it also shows you where the ADW comes from on these things.

I actually think that may sort of be the case here. Renovations and then precipitous shutdown. Makes one wonder if they're going to try to make a profit renting out the space. In which case they completely lied to everyone about the purpose of the renovations.

[Anonymous]

Expand the assisted living?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Expand the assisted living?

Hadn't thought of that but you're right. There's big money in elder care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A multi-year closure isn’t feasible. Families in younger grades would leave in droves and then you’d be running the place even further into the red by having the same expenses going out yet less and less tuition coming in.

And unless a parish school has some magic money coming in from somewhere or is doing without any specials/technology/etc, none of them are operating viably with classes of 15-17. It’s just not possible.

St. Bart’s is surrounded by other good parish schools. The area is almost saturated in fact with Mercy, Lourdes, Little Flower, and Blessed Sacrament just minutes away and deChantal, Holy Cross, St. Raphael’s, St. Elizabeth’s, Victory, and Annunciation just slightly further. Just as all the St. Ann’s families who wanted to stay in Catholic school were accommodated, so too will these families.

You're being completely obtuse to the specific population of this school. Only Holy Cross is at all comparable in character. And schools can and do operate with those numbers, so it is indeed possible.
Further, a multi-year closure when families have agreed to tuition increases and raised funds is certainly possible. Also, what does it mean to be a viable school? None of them are paying for themselves, really. They're all subsidized. So why can't a school with a very significant LD inclusion program be subsidized more? We all know the church has the money. It's a choice to spend it on a fancy facility rather than the families/students. And with all the church has done with its money for far, far worse purposes, making this a dollars and cents decision with no consideration for the community is absurd.

I’m looking at the class sizes in the Strategic Data report for the ADW and I don’t see any other school operating with low class numbers like that across the board. In fact, two schools I know to be in consultation with the Catholic Schools Office because of enrollment decline (because yes, it is a multi-year process of consultation before it gets to closure) have higher numbers per grade. When St. Ann’s was in trouble there were parents out on the church steps week after week pitching for their school but it’s really, really hard to overcome a downward enrollment slide without a big change (like adding the early nursery. That’s a smart move.) They hopefully have looked into the reasons why more parishioners are not putting their kids in the school and tried to address that. Is it cost? Is it the quality of the academics/teaching/facility? Is it the character of the school? It has to be something. And just as important to why people are staying out is why people are coming in. You have to find what makes the school special and sell it. It would be great if an inclusion program could be subsided more but that’s not going to happen with declining finances in the parish. The less a school needs to be subsidized, the more viable it is. Everyone know Sunday collections are down everywhere so I’m sure St. Bart’s is feeling it too.

One thing that I can think of is that I know a lot of World Bank/IMF families in the parish. They get 75% of their private school tuition paid by their employer. They'd rather go to the more expensive Catholic privates (Woods Academy, Mater Dei, the Heights, Stone Ridge).

[Anonymous]

(PP here) All of this is heartbreaking to us. Our kids are happy, have a very tight group of friends, and are learning from amazing teachers in a progressive environment. We'd do (and have done) everything we could to keep the school viable. We could never afford the private schools but it's felt like our kids are getting that quality of education. The teachers know all the kids personally. We're not religious but at this point we're praying the ADW will do the right thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About 30 years ago the ADW shut Immaculata Preparatory School, one of the most academically rigorous all-girls high schools in the DC area. It wasn't for lack of enrollment. They wanted to sell off the prime real estate. That's not the case with St. Bart's but it also shows you where the ADW comes from on these things.

No - the Sisters of Providence owned Immaculata and they are the ones who decided to shut down so they could use the revenue from the sale of the property to support the many aging and retired sisters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:(PP here) All of this is heartbreaking to us. Our kids are happy, have a very tight group of friends, and are learning from amazing teachers in a progressive environment. We'd do (and have done) everything we could to keep the school viable. We could never afford the private schools but it's felt like our kids are getting that quality of education. The teachers know all the kids personally. We're not religious but at this point we're praying the ADW will do the right thing.

Another PP here -- same (except we are Catholic, but otherwise same).

[Anonymous]

When will they announce the final decision? It's not leaving much time to get kids enrolled elsewhere for next year.

[Anonymous]

This strategic data report from the ADW is eye-opening. I'm happy to see that my kid's parochial school looks like it has a healthy enrollment.

https://adwcatholicschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-2019-Strategic-Data-Portfolio-FINAL.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This strategic data report from the ADW is eye-opening. I'm happy to see that my kid's parochial school looks like it has a healthy enrollment.

https://adwcatholicschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-2019-Strategic-Data-Portfolio-FINAL.pdf

ADW parish elementary schools overall are down 15.8% in enrollment over 10 years. St. Bart's enrollment is down 23.8% in the past 5 years. (Which is a lot at that size ~ 45 kids).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This strategic data report from the ADW is eye-opening. I'm happy to see that my kid's parochial school looks like it has a healthy enrollment.

https://adwcatholicschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-2019-Strategic-Data-Portfolio-FINAL.pdf

ADW parish elementary schools overall are down 15.8% in enrollment over 10 years. St. Bart's enrollment is down 23.8% in the past 5 years. (Which is a lot at that size ~ 45 kids).

True, but in the last 2 years has stabilized, whereas other schools haven't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This strategic data report from the ADW is eye-opening. I'm happy to see that my kid's parochial school looks like it has a healthy enrollment.

https://adwcatholicschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-2019-Strategic-Data-Portfolio-FINAL.pdf

ADW parish elementary schools overall are down 15.8% in enrollment over 10 years. St. Bart's enrollment is down 23.8% in the past 5 years. (Which is a lot at that size ~ 45 kids).

Chantal looks weak as well. Almost 100 kids down.

[Anonymous]

I wonder how reducing or eliminating the sibling discount at Catholic schools has affected enrollment. I was on my last kid at our school when they introduced it, but if I still had all my kids there, we probably would have switched to public.