Catholic Schools Retool to Attract Wealthier Students

While the Catholic school system at large struggles with declining enrollment and funding, some institutions have achieved stability and even growth by more closely emulating elite private academies, says The New York Times.

Church schools such as St. Stephen of Hungary on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Holy Rosary in Tacoma, Wash., have attracted new students from wealthier families with specialized courses, small class sizes, and other features associated with expensive private schools.

“Our competition or our standard isn’t another good Catholic school,” said the Rev. Angelo Gambatese, pastor at the St. Stephen’s church. “It’s the best independent schools in Manhattan, and we intend to achieve the same level of performance that they do.”

With such changes, the New York school is seeing far fewer low-income and minority students, according to the Times, with enrollment of African-Americans and Latinos down 15 percent and 33 percent, respectively, from three years ago.