School's enrollment hits high-water mark

By ANGELA CAVE- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

For the first time in a dozen years, enrollment at Sacred Heart School in Troy has surpassed 200 - something school officials are taking as a victory at a time when many Catholic schools are struggling to stay afloat.

"We are thrilled," said Susan Merrill, who entered her 19th year as principal and 26th year as a teacher at Sacred Heart this fall.

"I think it's just a testament to the reputation that we've built up over the years."

That reputation has come to include a welcoming atmosphere for children with special needs, extensive extracurricular activities, a stable faculty of about 20, a supportive pastor and parish community, small class sizes, and arts and other offerings. The pre-kindergarten-through-sixth-grade school also limits its annual tuition increases to about four percent; it currently costs $4,235 to send a child to Sacred Heart.

Many of these qualities have attracted parents unhappy with recent staff and program cuts at area public schools.

Students "need to have a well-rounded education," Mrs. Merrill said.

Sacred Heart School offers a science, math and technology lab to even the youngest students. Most rooms are equipped with interactive SMART Boards, and the fifth- and sixth-graders work with laptops.

Before- and after-school programming is available year-round to accommodate students with busy parents. Teachers volunteer to moderate a drama club and choir. A kindergarten teacher runs camps during school breaks and summer vacation. There are summer drama and cooking camps.

Rev. John Yanas, pastor of Sacred Heart parish, attends most daily assemblies, talks about the school during his homilies and attends school board meetings and open house events.

"I'm very lucky to have the support that I have," Mrs. Merrill said. "Once you're in here, I really feel you're hooked. There's just an energy here.

"It all comes down to the staff," she added.

Teachers have welcomed a high number of students with special learning or physical needs in recent years. The public school district sends in a special education consultant, but Sacred Heart's policy is to keep the students in the classroom all day.

Mrs. Merrill said this helps mainstream the students with special needs, but also benefits the other students.

"If they're not integrated with students who are quite different from them, they'll never be accepting," she said. "I feel that [students with special needs] enrich our lives. We're learning more from them than they learn from us."

Enrollment reached 205 this year, with four pre-kindergarten classrooms - an increase of 30 students from 2009.

The growth could be attributed to a strong alumni base that's enabled Sacred Heart to give more tuition assistance to needy students and upgrade technology, or from passionate parents who talk up the school. But prayers for the cause by Mrs. Merrill's 88-year-old mother, Leona, probably didn't hurt, the principal mused: "Maybe there was a little divine intervention."[[In-content Ad]]