New school year kicks off with enrollment boost in Catholic schools

Excited banter filled the hallways of St. Philip Neri School in Linthicum Aug. 28 as students caught up with friends they hadn’t seen since the end of the last school year and met new teachers on the first day of school in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

St. Philip Neri’s longtime principal, Kate Daley, seemed just as thrilled – greeting students and welcoming Dr. Donna Hargens, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Baltimore – for an opening-day visit.

Cameron P. Stehle, new principal at Monsignor Slade Catholic School, greets Diana Hernandez and her son Samuel on the first day of school August 28, 2023, in Anne Arundel County. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

St. Philip Neri has special reason to celebrate this new school year as its total enrollment has grown to 483 – up nearly 5 percent from last year.

“We continue to grow over the last few years, so that’s a good thing,” said Daley, now in her 13th year leading the Anne Arundel County school. “I think people are looking for secure schools, places that are safe and where they can practice their religion or learn about faith.”

While the total enrollment figures for the 58 Catholic schools throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore won’t be finalized until Oct. 1, archdiocesan leaders project that enrollment will be up this academic year by 1 percent from last year’s 24,743.

Some of the schools that have seen the biggest jumps including Archbishop Borders Catholic School in Highlandtown (18 percent); St. Agnes School in Catonsville (15 percent); St. Mark School in Catonsville (14 percent); St. John Regional Catholic School in Frederick (10 percent); Resurrection-St. Paul School in Ellicott City (7 percent); and St. Joan of Arc School in Aberdeen and Bishop Walsh School in Cumberland (6 percent).

Hargens told the Catholic Review that Catholic schools experienced a bump in enrollment during the coronavirus pandemic, with many families choosing to keep their children in the Catholic school system after the pandemic receded.

Many families were impressed by the quality of the education their children received, she said, “and our principals were really determined to retain those families and keep those students in Catholic education.”

Hargens, who also visited Monsignor Slade Catholic School in Glen Burnie on the first day of school, encouraged students to “maximize the use of every minute of this wonderful school year” and “be grateful to everyone, to God, their parents and to all the teachers and the wonderful people that will be part of this school year.”

She noted that everyone in a Catholic school is “immersed in the Catholic faith and Catholic identity is the most important part of what we do.”

Catholic schools nurture faith and help students become the best they can be, Daley said. Catholic identity at St. Philip Neri is about “instilling values and morals in students so they can understand right and wrong decisions,” she said. “We teach about what’s going on out in the culture and what is positive, what is negative and how they can handle those situations as they continue to grow.”

Monsignor Slade Catholic School parents Nick and Stephanie Cole walk their daughter Alexandrea and son James to their first day of school August 28, 2023, in Anne Arundel County. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Cameron Stehle, a first-year principal of Monsignor Slade who previously served as assistant principal at School of the Incarnation in Gambrills and a teacher at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, said he felt overwhelmed by a sense of welcome at his new school.

“I’ve received an overwhelming amount of messages and communications welcoming me to the community,” he said.

Slade has an enrollment of 540 students in grades pre-K through 8 for the 2023-24 academic year, an increase of about 2 percent from recent years.

Lisa Benitez, a teacher at Slade for 17 years whose two sons graduated from the school, said seeing new faces at the start of a new year is exciting.

“New students get to start fresh again,” she said, “and we get to watch them grow – not only physically, but spiritually and academically. That’s the most amazing thing.”

Some of the parents dropping off students at St. Philip Neri and Monsignor Slade, especially those of younger students, seemed to linger as they watched their children begin a new year. Many hugs were exchanged, along with high-fives and fist bumps.

Stephanie and Nick Cole, parishioners of Christ the King in Glen Burnie who dropped off two of their three children at Monsignor Slade, said they chose a Catholic school to nurture faith and provide a rigorous atmosphere. Nick Cole, a commanding officer in the U.S. Navy, wore his military uniform.

“I’ve always really enjoyed them learning and growing in their faith,” Stephanie Cole said, “and sometimes, even though we’re parents and it starts at home, it’s not always the easiest because they don’t always like to listen to us. So I think hearing it from other people’s perspective has been really great for them.”

Kevin J. Parks and George P. Matysek Jr. contributed to this report.

To view more photos of the first day of school, click through the slideshow below: