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.