10/15/21 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

Photo Caption: 4th Grade Girls Acting just like 4th Grade Girls. Wonderful!!

Dear Our Lady of Peace Family:

One of the many reports that I need to do for the Diocese and the State of Ohio is a summary of our student statistics. This is actually one report that I enjoy preparing because it give me a chance to look at our numbers and to see how they change from year to year.

The good news is that enrollment is up this year at 217. Now I know for some of you old timers like me who remember when enrollment here was over 250 this number seems small. However, when you look at the present demands of the classroom and its teachers we must cap each of the grades in K-5 at 25 and middle school at 30 per student. With that in mind we are 23 students from full capacity.

Our percentage of Catholic students remains the same from last year at 72%. That percentage has held fairly steady since my first year in 2017. Likewise our diversity by race has been fairly constant since 2017.

EdChoice student enrollment has grown with a jump of 15 students from last year and 24 from 2017. Of that growing number the percentage of Catholic students who are served by the State scholarship remains at about half of the total students taking advantage of this program, which includes students who live in a school boundary that is in academic emergency and students whose family income qualifies them for assistance.

I am disappointed with our lower Kindergarten numbers. From what I can tell, Kindergarten numbers are down throughout the Diocese. A result of the pandemic? Only time will tell. Our Open House then, is very important for next year not only for a bigger Kindergarten but to add students to next year’s first grade (we added 5 new students to this year’s first grade).

What does this all mean? Father Dooley and I are happy with our numbers both in the school and in parish membership. From time to time we hear rumors around town, especially “the Ville” about little Our Lady of Peace being swallowed by our Catholic neighbors to the north and south. Honestly, I think that is wishful thinking on other people’s part because the quality of our teachers and our students would be a welcome addition to any school. But they shouldn’t hold their breath. We are strong, we are quality, we are Catholic, we are the Our in Our Lady of Peace! And we are not going anywhere!

Jim Silcott