Area parochial schools hold their own

Leaders of local and regional church schools don't see closings in the near future.

"We're stable," East Grand Forks Sacred Heart High School Principal Phil Meyer said. "Our enrollment has been about in the same place for the last 20 years."

Sacred Heart, the only Catholic high school in the Crookston Diocese, has about 300 students in grades K-12. That number has fluctuated little in the last generation, he said, and has gone up slightly since Sacred Heart replaced its ancient building with a new one after the 1997 flood.

"I like to call our building a gift from God that came through FEMA," Meyer said.

Private schools typically lose some students after grade school. Sacred Heart does, too, but it also picks up five to 10 students each year from Grand Forks' two grade schools, St. Michael's and Holy Family-St. Mary's.

Leaders of both Grand Forks grade schools remain optimistic because their preschool programs have been acting as feeder programs for the elementary grades.

"We're looking at quite a big class for kindergarten in the fall," said Charles Scherr, principal at Holy Family-St. Mary's. "I can't predict for sure, but we'll be up at least 10 percent next year."

Enrollment at the Catholic elementary schools has been in a slow, steady decline since the 1980s, but St. Michael's added 12 students this year for a total of 102. Holy Family-St. Mary's has 72 students, less than a year ago.

"We're starting to come back," Scherr said. "At any school that charges tuition, the economy is going to have an impact on enrollment."

The younger grades at St. Michael's are large, school secretary Jeannie Strande said. "And we were so busting at the seams at the pre-school that we had to open another pre-school class, which is also positive for the future."

High schools are scarce

While Sacred Heart is the only high school in the Crookston Diocese, Fargo Shanley is the only high school in the Fargo Diocese.

Other Catholic elementary schools in the Crookston Diocese are located in Crookston, Thief River Falls, Bemidji, Detroit Lakes, Mahnomen, Moorhead, Red Lake and Red Lake Falls.

Catholic elementary schools in the Fargo Diocese are located in Belcourt, Devils Lake, Fargo, Jamestown, Langdon, Rugby, Valley City and Wahpeton.

Crookston Cathedral lost about 10 students before the 2008-09 school year after tuition increases, Principal Adam Hollingsworth said. But it recaptured the same number for this school year.

"The Crookston public school has lost almost half of its enrollment in the last 10-15 years, yet the Cathedral has remained relatively stable," Hollingsworth said.

Sister Kathy Kuchar, principal of St. Bernard's School in Thief River Falls, said enrollment has remained stable for her 14-year tenure.

"We're very healthy and look forward to staying that way," she said.

Riverside bounces back

Riverside Christian, a nondenominational K-8 school in East Grand Forks, is bouncing back from a near-fatal blow leveled by the 1997 flood.

Riverside reached its peak enrollment during the year of the flood, at 125 students. But it lost about 50 students when it reopened.

But enrollment has recovered to 96, with a projection of 105 for next school year.

"A committee has been meeting for months, moving in the direction of adding a high school," said Joe Chine, growth and development director. "A couple of years down the road, we hope to start adding it one year at a time."

Riverside Christian has existed for 28 years and now uses the former Valley Elementary building.

Reach Bakken at (701) 780-1125; (800) 477-6572, ext. 125; or send e-mail to rbakken@gfherald.com .