Growth boom leading some schools to expansion

Across the nation and locally the number of children enrolled in school is booming.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, total private and public school enrollment will rise from a record 51.7 million to 54.6 million between now and 2006. The nation's schools haven't seen this kind of growth since the previous record was set in 1971, according to Education Department reports.

As the state's public schools deal with the challenges of educating more children, some Catholic schools in the Albany Diocese find they are in the midst of growth as well.

Big jump in NYC

The most dramatic increase in enrollment came last September for New York City's public schools, which opened with 91,000 more students than capacity. While Catholic schools won't be faced with that type of sudden spurt, any type of enrollment pattern that affects public schools also affects Catholic schools.

"We will reflect the general population," said Sister Ann McCarthy, CSJ, superintendent of schools for the Diocese. "Generally speaking, if there's an increase, we'll be affected."

Over the past five years, enrollment in Catholic schools in the Diocese has increased. During the 1992/93 school year, 12,070 students were enrolled in the elementary, high school and private Catholic schools of the Diocese. This year, there are 12,732.

While this year's enrollment is actually down by 120 students compared to last year, the decrease is far from dramatic since it is spread over 42 schools.

New space

Meanwhile, several schools continue to grow so much that new space is needed. At St. Pius X School in Loudonville, principal Nick Audi said the school's kindergarten through second grade program now has three sections of each class, while third through sixth has double sections. Seventh and eighth still have one section per grade.

The school's current enrollment for prekindergarten through grade eight is 525, an increase of more than 100 students from the 1992/93 school year.

St. Pius parish is now in the process of building an addition to the school that will also benefit the parish's religious education program. Two years ago, when the parish expanded its facilities, the school gained space for two additional kindergarten rooms, and was able to form computer and science labs from reconfigured space.

"If we didn't have the additional space, we'd have to turn people away," Mr. Audi said. "We don't want to crowd classes."

More to come

St. Catherine of Siena School in Albany will also benefit from a parish building project. The parish plans to construct a new church. The current church, attached to the school, will be converted into gymnasium space, a library, and computer and science labs. Currently, the school enrolls 245 students.

Enrollment growth isn't limited to Albany County. St. Mary's Institute in Amsterdam is also experiencing a boom. Like St. Pius, the school has three sections of kindergarten through second grade, and double sections of all other grades. There are also 87 students enrolled in the pre-school program. Total enrollment in the school is 604.

According to Sister Elizabeth Costanzo, CSJ, principal, this figure represents a 264 percent increase over the past two years.

The school, located in the former Bishop Scully High School, benefitted from the addition of four classrooms, two offices and bathrooms. At the beginning of the current school year, several classes moved into this new space.

Space conversions

According to Sister Ann, converting existing rooms is often the first option schools look at when facing a space problem.

"In some schools, they've converted spaces for art and music," she explained. "They don't give up the program, but they look at the space. Sometimes, you have to give up spaces. If it was once a classroom converted to something else, convert it back."

She said there are creative ways to continue art, music and language programs without loosing classroom space. Sharing space, or having the program come into the regular classroom are options.

Steps to future

While schools are looking at their space more creatively, the superintendent reports building space is on the rise. "There are more schools building now than before," she said.

Before building, a school must present its needs to the Diocesan School Board. The board, which has knowledge of what is happening in all of the schools, can look at how the plans fit in with the larger picture of Catholic schools in the Diocese. The board also determines if the plan is educationally sound.

If the board approves the plans, the school must then approach other diocesan offices involved in the decision for approval. One of the priorities the school board has is to ensure that the proposed project will not negatively impact surrounding Catholic schools.

Sister Ann explained that Holy Spirit School in East Greenbush hosted a meeting with leadership from the surrounding Catholic schools as it was dealing with its options to handle enrollment growth. Although Holy Spirit is still looking at options, the meeting allowed the other schools to know what was happening.

This is important, the superintendent said. "It helps if you can get everyone working on the same wave-length," she said.

Why they come

While there may be more school-aged children today than there were ten years ago, Catholic educators also attribute the growth in enrollment to the education itself.

"We have an excellent product," Mr. Audi said. "Parents believe in the mission of Catholic schools, and we provide a quality education."

(04-03-97) [[In-content Ad]]