Reversing the Trend the State of Catholic Schools in the Suburbs Schools Using New Tools to Keep Up Enrollment

Byline: Anna Madrzyk and Kerry Lester amadrzyk@dailyherald.com klester@dailyherald.com

As are a number of Catholic schools, St. Alexander is struggling with declining enrollment.

So, the Villa Park school is marketing itself on the silver screen: 15-second spots tout its "warm and nurturing" environment, small classes and daily P.E. The commercials are running for 28 weeks at the York Theatre in Elmhurst.

"We thought we needed to do something a little

different," Principal Glenn Purpura said.

St. Alexander, which will recoup its $8,000 investment if just two additional students register next year, is one of several Catholic schools turning to creative measures to attract more students.

Declining enrollment and the tough economy are hitting some suburban Catholic schools hard, while others u blessed, in part, by demographics u are managing to flourish. Overall, Catholic schools arenAEt losing as many students as they were several years ago, although the full brunt of the recession and job layoffs wonAEt be …

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Publication information: Article title: Reversing the Trend the State of Catholic Schools in the Suburbs Schools Using New Tools to Keep Up Enrollment. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL). Publication date: May 30, 2009. Page number: 1. © 2009 Paddock Publications. COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale Group.

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