Enrollment is 5,156 but capacity is 6,865
Premium content from Austin Business Journal – by Sandra Zaragoza , ABJ Staff
Date: Friday, August 19, 2011, 5:00am CDT
The Diocese of Austin is looking for ways to grow its schools despite challenging times.
The Catholic diocese is moving forward on a strategic plan that was completed in 2009 to increase enrollment across its 25-county area in Central Texas. Some strategic items have been put on hold, however, because of the tough economy. For instance, the school system shelved plans to study the potential for new elementary schools to serve the Leander-Burnet, College Station and Round Rock-Pflugerville areas.
In the last few years, the diocese has been challenged by affordability, competition with public schools and a lack of an aggressive marketing program to reach more prospective families, according to its strategic plan.
But the potential for growth is there, and so is the desire to provide a religious education to more children, said Ned Vanders, superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Austin.
The diocese believes that as the Catholic population in Central Texas grows, so will the demand for Catholic education.
Overall, the number of parish households grew by 19 percent in the diocese in north and south Austin, San Marcos and the Killeen-Temple area.
One indication of growing demand for Catholic education is the success of the diocese’s newest schools. The diocese opened Holy Family Catholic School in Austin, St. Helen Catholic School in Georgetown and St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School, and all have been well-received. San Juan Diego Catholic High School is also doing well, and is gauging whether it can attract enough support to build a new school and expand capacity.
But while many schools in the system are meeting enrollment goals, others in rural communities have seen enrollment drop.
To jump-start enrollment, the diocese is working on a few initiatives, including a diocese-wide marketing plan. Right now, each school markets independently.
Vanders would like to see more families, Catholic and non-Catholic, consider the value of a Catholic education. About 16 percent of the diocese’s students are not Catholic.
Other goals are to increase diocesan teachers’ salaries to at least 80 percent of what public school teachers earn and to give “any family that desires a Catholic school education access,” Vanders said.
Enrollment is about 5,100 students throughout the diocese, which includes 125 parishes. There are about 570 teachers, with fewer than a dozen in the clergy or sisterhood. The diocese’s capacity is 6,865 students.
Comparatively speaking, steady enrollment across the diocese is encouraging, Vanders said.
While some Catholic schools in urban markets have been challenged, Austin is considered a growth market, said Karen Ristau of the National Catholic Educational Association in Virginia.
The outlook for Catholic schools is hopeful, she said.
“I think we are coming out of an era when schools are closing. We think the economy is turning around, and those families that can will spend their basic income on education,” Ristau said.
The Austin diocese has been challenged by attractive public school programs that have lured away sixth- through eighth-graders in anticipation of going to public high schools, according to its strategic plan.
One high school bucking that trend is St. Dominic Savio in North Austin.
The college preparatory school has exceeded expectations, Principal Kevin Calkins said. In three years, the school has become the second-largest Catholic high school in the system at 275 students. Interest this school year has been so strong that the school is considering accepting more students and adding staff.
“It’s a beautiful facility. We have made a huge investment in this school,” Calkins said.
To compete with public high schools, St. Dominic’s leadership decided it needed to offer competitive teacher pay, top-notch facilities and extracurricular activities. Besides that, the school is a Project Lead the Way certified school, meaning students enrolled in the STEM — short for science technology engineering and math — pathway take engineering courses. St. Dominic’s also launched a robotics program for students.
Meanwhile, San Juan Diego, a college preparatory school, is hoping to leverage the success it’s had with its graduates to gain financial support for a new school, Principal Pam Jupe said.
One challenge in recruiting students is getting the word out to families that work-study is available. Jupe believes interest will rise once families “see a new facility. Once they see the slab being laid out … I think we’ll see an increase.”
