Mondays with Mike: Enrollment

Welcome back to another edition of Mondays with Mike. I trust you had a refreshing long weekend and took time to honor Martin Luther King Jr. on this significant day. Today, I’d like to delve into a crucial aspect of our school’s journey – enrollment.

As reenrollment has just opened, it’s essential to paint a clear picture of what lies ahead for PCA in the coming year. In the recording below (and the summary that follows), I break down projected enrollment into its components across the school divisions: preschool (PCAP), Lower School (grades K-5), Middle School (grades 6-8), and Upper School (grades 9-12). I also provide context and insights as to how we prayerfully plan and think about enrollment: it is far more than a number; it is about building a school community every year where your children and classmates can grow and flourish in faith, knowledge, and experiences.

Click above to listen to Mike’s 10-minute message on topics I think are relevant for you and your family.

In the current school year, we met and slightly exceeded our enrollment projection and sustainable growth goal. Our preschool (PCAP) is at full capacity. The Lower School is also near full, and we have waiting pools in several grades. The Middle School enrollment is just below capacity (within 5 students), while the Upper School, though not quite full, experienced healthy growth.

Our goal is to maximize PCAP availability as long as possible to our community–it will fill quickly. We aim to maintain around three homerooms per grade (Lower School and Middle School), fostering an optimal learning environment. At the Upper School next year, we seek to build all class sizes toward 50 per grade (total enrollment 200); we see at least two grades meeting that goal, and the others in the mid-40s (which is a good number of students, too).

We anticipate waiting pools in several Lower School Grades and a full PCAP very early in the enrollment season; we foresee strong enrollment again in the Middle School grades and continue to see growth in the Upper School.

The two charts below put enrollment in perspective year over year (Chart 1), and this year compared to next year (Chart 2).

1. Challenging Personal Growth: A balanced grade enrollment size of 45 to 50 well prepared, ready students allows for meaningful interactions, challenging your children to grow intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.
2. Stable Community: A consistent and stable community for both students and teachers, minimizing disruptions and providing a reliable environment for academic and personal growth next year and for all their years at PCA.
3. Healthy Size: PCA is structured to be neither too big nor too small, aiming for a community of 685 students next year, eventually growing to the low to mid-700s in the next several years. The focus of that future growth is at the Upper School. This size allows for a vibrant, supportive, and nurturing environment for sustained personal and community growth year over year.

As we receive applications from prospective new students, we know that student growth is about a student’s readiness for that growth. It’s crucial that families considering PCA align with our values and faith first. We are committed to teaching from a Christian perspective and integrating it into every aspect of our curriculum. We also admit applicants academically and behaviorally ready for the challenges that come with being a part of our community committed to pursuing and often achieving excellence and consistent growth.

As preferred re-enrollment continues over the rest of the January, we ask you to invite new families whose children would thrive here to consider PCA. We have an All-School Open House in early February, and we would really like to meet your friends who have school-aged students. Please consider inviting them. Open enrollment begins in February for new families, and we prioritize those families whose applications are complete.

As the class of ‘24 graduates in a few months and a few families move on, we seek to sustain our school’s enrollment strength with like-minded, hearted, and ready students and families. Let’s anticipate how God will continue to build and bless our school next year and in the coming years, as reflected in strong, solid, healthy enrollment. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Enrollment is really about each student at our school living and learning in community. Full enrollment is key for healthy, sustainable growth for your sons and daughters over their years of their education. This photo, from Homecoming this year, captures the life and vitality of a full, vibrant student community.

Thank you for listening to/reading this episode of Mondays with Mike. You can access past episodes through our website or through Podbean.

Next week I will explore what we are working on for next year. Stay tuned for further updates on the State of the School (8 February, 2PM, recording to be released that evening). May God bless you and your families abundantly.