10/25/24 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

Photo Caption: K-3 Choir Singing at Friday Mass

Dear Our Lady of Peace Family,

October is the month where the Catholic schools in Columbus must do statistics for the Diocese, the National Catholic Educational Association as well as both the State of Ohio and the Federal government. I am sharing this information with you, the parishioners of Our Lady of Peace and the families in our school. 

With our facility and a belief in keeping classroom numbers small, I consider 240 students the capacity of our school. In 2020 we had 210 students. This year our enrollment is 229 students. Kindergarten, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth grade are full. First grade is close to capacity. 

Our male versus female numbers have remained steady for the last five years with slightly more girls than boys. For the 2024-2025 school year we have 109 boys and 120 girls. Third grade is heavily female at 72% while sixth grade’s boys are at 61% of that class.

Over the last five years our Catholic population of students has stood at 74.8%. This year holds close to that percentage with 168 of our 229 students registered in a Catholic parish, 157 at Our Lady of Peace and 11 at other Catholic parishes. Last year we had four students and/or their families convert to Catholicism. We have had a conversion of students every year for the last seven years, and I expect there to be more this coming school year. Students and their families become interested in our school, and then Our Lady of Peace as a place of worship and community, and ultimately in the Roman Catholic religion. 

Last year, all but one of our 42 eighth graders continued their Catholic education at one of our Catholic high schools. I expect the class of 2025 to continue that trend. 

Our ethnic demographics have mostly remained steady in the last five years. For the current school year, 79% of our students are Caucasian, 13% are Black, 1% Asian and 5% Multi-Racial. Our Hispanic population, however, has dropped from 10% in the 2022-2023 school year to 2% this year. 

Our families live in 19 different zip codes. The largest single zip code is 43214 which houses 39% of our families (not students). 23% are in the 43229 area, with 11% in 43224, 7% in 43235, 5% in 43085, with the remaining 15% in one of the other 14 zip codes ranging from downtown to Westerville and the Olentangy School District. 

Of our faculty, 74% hold a master’s degree. 97% of all teachers and staff are Catholic. 

Statistics, of course, don’t tell the whole story about Our Lady of Peace School. Of new families entering Our Lady of Peace in the last five years, over 90% say that they were told about our school through word of mouth by parents whose children are already enrolled or who had students who have graduated from our school. This is our best form of advertising, and we need parents to continue to tell our story to prospective families looking to register students in kindergarten and beyond for the 2025-2026 school year. 

We have the earliest Open House of all the Catholic elementary schools in Columbus. Enrollment for new families for next year begins at that Open House on November 10 from 12:30-2pm. Families registered at Our Lady of Peace and siblings of our present students have priority, so we want to make sure that those families register early in order to gauge what room we might have for other students. Please let interested families know that beside our Open House on that day, every day there is an Open House by appointment, with questions answered and tours of our wonderful school. There is a request form on our website or they can simply call the office. 5 

We are a healthy, vibrant school and we work hard to educate our students to build His Kingdom. I thank all of you for your support in that work and pledge to keep working hard towards that end. 

Jim Silcott