Catholic schools increase enrollment through community outreach

Cleveland, Ohio, Dec 2, 2004 / 22:00 pm

When enrollment at their local Catholic schools dropped, parishioners in Cleveland’s East Side took matters into their own hands.

Parishioners in the Slavic Village neighborhood got proactive. They put up billboards across the community and did door-to-door outreach, speaking to new and young families about the benefits of Catholic education.

Four years later, their efforts have proven fruitful. Enrollment at the three schools – Holy Name School, Saint Stanislaus and Saint John Nepomucene – is up despite an increased poverty rate in the neighborhood.

At Holy Name School, for example, community efforts have helped increase enrollment by 71 students to 229.

The parishioners’ efforts have resulted in these three schools bucking a national trend that shows a large number of Catholic schools closing in many urban areas.