A strong foundation

Acree: A number of key factors have led to enrollment increase at St. Edmond

Catholic schools around Iowa have seen an increase of over 5% compared to last year in terms of overall enrollment, the Catholic Schools Office for the Diocese of Sioux City announced recently.

That includes on a local basis with St. Edmond Catholic Schools, which have seen the largest growth among the four diocesan schools at 20%. Pocahontas Catholic has also seen an increase of 8% in enrollment.

"This has been really exciting, and our goal is to keep the students here through graduation," St. Edmond elementary principal Tabitha Acree said. "The other thing that has helped our school is the addition of the 3-year-old preschool, because most of those students are continuing on into our 4-year-old program and that keeps them here because they have had two years of connection."

St. Edmond has around 120 new students this year, with most of them being in the elementary levels.

"This is the third year of our 3-year-old preschool program," Acree said. "We have expanded both our 3-year-old and 4-year-old programs. This year, we also have four kindergarten classes and a TK room.

"I believe high family involvement, faith-based school and having one building are all positives for our school. With the single building, it allows the younger students to connect with the older ones and that draws our younger ones into more activities and sports."

Maury Ruble, principal of the middle school and high school, added that there has been a "modest increase" in students enrolled in grades 6-12.

"Typically, high school students do not change schools or districts at the same rates as middle school or elementary students," he said. "But, we are grateful for the students who have chosen St. Edmond and look forward to assisting them with their personal growth and academic goals."