CHARLOTTE, N.C.— As the Diocese of Charlotte celebrates Catholic Schools Week, they’re also celebrating continued growth in enrollment.
What You Need To Know
- Catholic Schools Week runs Jan. 29 – Feb. 4
- The Diocese of Charlotte reports continued growth in enrollment of its schools
- They report a 15.5% increase in enrollment since the pandemic began
Last year, they reported a 10% growth in enrollment since the start of the pandemic.
This year, that number has grown again.
A spokesperson for the diocese says it's now seeing a 15.5% increase in enrollment since the pandemic began. That's across their now 20 schools, as the diocese added an affiliated school last year.
The principal at St. Gabriel Catholic School, Michele Snoke, says she sees this growth within her own school.
“So I went from about 540ish students to now over 650 students,” she said.
Snoke says a reason for the growth is because the Catholic schools were able to safely transition back to in-person learning during the pandemic.
“So we have definitely seen the uptick in students coming to Catholic schools, a lot of it because of COVID probably and not having in-person learning, and I think a lot of parents know that, that’s needed,” Snoke said.
To accommodate more kids, she says they’ve also hired more teachers.
“Those teachers have been retained with us, so we had 100% retention last year, which is exciting, especially in a time when there is a teacher shortage,” she said.
Currently, the diocese reports almost 8,000 kids enrolled in its schools.