Catholic school enrollment grew by more than 1,000 students in the Archdiocese of Baltimore this fall, an increase of 3.2 percent from last year and a continuation of the growth of the previous two years, officials said yesterday.
There are 32,991 students in the archdiocesan elementary, middle and high schools in Baltimore metropolitan area and Western Maryland. Last year, these schools had 31,978 students.
"It's a time for celebration," said Ronald Valenti, archdiocesan schools superintendent, who announced the figures at a news conference yesterday at St. Mary's Parish in Govans.
Enrollment was up nearly 8 percent in the archdiocese's nine middle schools, almost 4 percent in 69 elementary schools and less than 1 percent in 22 high schools. The archdiocese also operates one special education school. The biggest gains were in outlying areas.
The middle school growth, in particular, reflects the aggressive marketing that Catholic schools have been doing, Dr. Valenti said. Also, two new middle schools for high-risk students opened in the city this fall: St. Ignatius Loyola on Calvert Street and Mother Seton Academy on Regester Street. Each school has about 20 sixth-graders, school officials said.
Dr. Valenti also handed out the Catholic schools' first report card, which gave them high marks for student and faculty attendance, the high school graduation rate, community service, parental involvement and in several academic areas.
The report card, based on school data, is similar to the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program, which measures the achievements of public schools.
"It's an assessment of who we are, what we are and what we're doing," said Dr. Valenti. "We always felt we had this commitment to excellence. This assessment confirmed what we thought."
Ninety-nine percent of Catholic high school students graduate, and 91 percent of those graduates go to college, he said. All high schools and 75 percent of the elementary and middle
schools have community service programs and 72 percent of parents volunteer in the schools, he said.
He cited "an area of challenge" in the number of elementary and middle school students completing foreign language classes. Only about 45 percent of those students do so now, according to the report card.
