Beginning this March, St. Patrick School in Fredericksburg will
join the ranks of other schools in the diocese adopting a continuous enrollment
system. It replaces an old model that required parents to reenroll their
students every year until graduation, a policy that led to missed deadlines and
extra paperwork for parents and administrators. Some also found the complexity
of the system caused parents to doubt the school’s value. Under the continuous
enrollment system, the process is streamlined. Once students are enrolled they
are automatically reenrolled every year until graduation or until the
withdrawal process is completed.
Principal Sally Nicholson spoke about the new system during two
state-of-the-school meetings at St. Patrick School this January.
Parents were encouraged to sign the new continuous enrollment
contract and submit one contract for each student by March 1. Those families
who signed the new contract would then set up an account with FACTS tuition
management service, which provides payment plans to fit each family. The school
also plans to post new tuition amounts for the upcoming school year, the annual
continuous enrollment fee amount and information regarding financial aid each
January.
Overhauling the enrollment process with a simpler system was high
on principal Nicholson’s list of priorities when she arrived at the school last
fall.
“This is something I was introduced to several years ago and I
believe is being considered more and more as best practice,” said Nicholson.
She believes the new enrollment system will be more convenient
for families and contribute to the value of a Catholic education at the school.
Kassock is a freelancer in Fredericksburg.
© Arlington Catholic Herald 2020