Catholic Schools return to pre-pandemic levels

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SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time in several years, Judge Memorial Catholic High School Principal Patrick Lambert is considering creating a waiting list for incoming freshmen.

“We did a priority deadline, and we had more people apply for that than we’ve had in probably in a decade,” Lambert said. “We are very close to nearing our capacity, so we’re encouraging all students in the feeder schools that have not yet applied to get those applications in.”

Judge Memorial’s academic rigor helps attract students, Lambert said, citing the school being named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, and its recently published ACT scores – this year their ACT composite score was 26.1, compared to the state average of 20.6.

“I think that’s validating a lot of people’s ideas on the investments of a Catholic education,” Lambert said, adding that parents also have appreciated the school’s efforts to maintain a healthy environment during the Covid pandemic.

“We’re excited about the enthusiasm surrounding the high school and a large incoming freshman class,” Lambert said. “We’re going to continue to do our best to provide the best education for our students.”

Judge’s experience reflects that of Catholic schools in Utah, which systemwide are seeing an uptick in enrollment as they recover from the hit many of them took during the pandemic. Enrollment numbers are now at 4,757, exactly the same as the 2019-2020 numbers and a 9 percent gain over last year, when numbers were at 4,362, said Utah Catholic Schools Superintendent Mark Longe.

Nationally, many Catholic schools experienced a surge in enrollment when public schools across the nation went to virtual-only classes during the height of the pandemic. While complete numbers are not yet available from the National Catholic Educational Association, which is putting the final touches on its annual enrollment report, due out Feb. 17, there is no doubt that nationwide enrollment increased.

“The general thought is that enrollment did increase and mostly due to families looking for alternatives to public schools that went completely virtual,” said Margaret Kaplow, NCEA vice president of communications, public relations and publications. She added that approximately 86 percent of Catholic schools “were safely open for in-person learning, five days a week with hybrid options.”

Among all of Utah’s school districts, only the Salt Lake City School District remained strictly online last fall, so local Catholic schools did not see the impact experienced nationwide. Instead, numbers dropped as some parents opted to keep their children home or pursue online options. Another reason for the dip was the effort by schools to allow for social distancing which, in some cases, meant that numbers were capped at an artificially low level.

“Some of it was created by our own doing, by the way we managed Covid,” Longe said.

Still, as nationally, some of the schools did see some transfers of students from public schools, especially from the Salt Lake City School District. School principals said most of those students have remained enrolled this year.

As life returns to normal after the pandemic, Utah Catholic Schools may see challenges in maintaining their numbers. For the decade prior to the pandemic, they saw a 1.5 percent drop year over year in students. Longe feels this is in large part due to rising costs involved with providing a private school education.

“We have very little outside funding, and our only option is to raise tuition in order to pay operating costs and salaries,” he said. “We have a tuition-driven model: when costs go up, we have no option but to raise tuition.”

Unlike states where there is a high concentration of Catholics, Utah’s smaller parishes cannot provide significant support for the schools. To try to help offset this and draw more students, the diocese has launched programs such as the Pastor’s Promise, which offers temporary lower tuition as a welcome for Catholic families. Each school also does its own fundraising and uses social media and other methods to raise awareness of their programs, attract students and solicit donations.

Going forward is challenging, and the future success of Utah Catholic Schools will largely depend on how highly parents value a Catholic education, Longe said. “We hope that we maintain the population and that we continue to attract students, and that we also remain a viable option for those people that came to us during the pandemic.”

“With a classic Catholic education, we believe we educate the whole child,” he said. “When our students leave our schools, they have a very strong skillset that really does prepare them to be successful for the future and to become lifelong learners.”