School Opening & Enrollment Growth

In Duluth, Georgia I handled the publicity for efforts to open a new private school. The school was able to successfully open after only a few months of outreach and then enrollment doubled in the first year. Below are just a couple of the press releases I wrote and media articles that resulted from these releases.

Press Release for School Opening:

Catholic Boom Prompts the Opening of a New School

Notre Dame Academy Launches in Duluth

In Montgomery County, Pennsylvania there are more than 40. In Lake County and Northwest Cook County, Illinois there are at least 34. In King County, Washington there are about 37. In Gwinnett County, Georgia there has been only one—one Catholic elementary school. This fact has surprised many Catholics who have moved into the area, but now a new school is opening this coming fall to respond to a Catholic boom in the county. The private school called Notre Dame Academy will open near the banks of Chattahoochee River in Duluth this coming fall. The school will include grades pre-K through 8th. The need for the school became apparent when statistics showed that the Catholic population in the county surpassed 47,000 people in the year 2000, representing an 114% increase from 1990.

Part of this trend has occurred because of the immigrant growth in the area, particularly Hispanics. Because of this fact and the desire for global education standards, Notre Dame Academy will utilize the programs promoted by the International Baccalaureate Organization. Among other things, this program will immerse students in a dual language environment, requiring students on all age levels to communicate effectively in both English and Spanish. To enhance this effort, the school plans to install a state-of-art language lab, which will use technology to help students learn how to speak in another language.

Notre Dame Academy will also utilize the latest technology to create “Smart Classrooms” that use interactive white boards. Plans are also in the works to create a primary science lab for hands-on learning, a media center with an international focus, and music & art rooms. On the curriculum level, the school will incorporate a service learning program that will require students to participate in a major service project each year. Plus, a “Fitness for Life” program will offer the students daily physical education classes and lessons about healthy living. For more information on the school’s programs, visit its website at www.ndacademy.org or call Debra Orr, Principal at 678-455-5944.

Article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Press Release for School Growth:

Notre Dame Academy Purchases Facility to Accommodate 150% Growth in Student Population

After months of discussions, the board at Notre Dame Academy has found a way to expand the new private school without moving from its River Green business park location in Duluth or building any additions. On Friday July 21st the school closed on a deal to buy a former daycare center located at the front of the River Green office park on Peachtree Industrial Blvd. This 13,000 square foot facility located on 2.2 acres of land provides a separate, secure Early Years Campus for the school’s youngest students in Preschool through Kindergarten. Notre Dame Academy’s remaining students in Pre-first through 8th grade will still be housed in the current building at 4635 River Green Parkway. The additional space will allow the school to handle the more than doubled student population going into its second year.

“We’re projecting that we’ll have about 400 students this year, which is significantly higher than the 155 students we opened with last year,“ said school President Debra Orr. “The additional facilities will allow us to continue to grow and remain at this location.”

The site will also enable the school to offer before and after school care programs. The building includes nine additional classrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, and three playgrounds. This facility will have its own principal and assistant principal, who will be responsible for the entire school operation.

Notre Dame Academy also is offering two more preschool classes at the Early Years Campus in addition to its current classes. Also, the space enables the school to add an extra class for most grades with the aim of eventually expanding to three classes per grade level.

“My goal has always been to provide a seat for each child who wants a Catholic education,” Ms. Orr said. “The additional facilities take us to the school year of 2009-10.”

The school has hired an additional 22 faculty and staff members this year to handle the expansion. Plus, Notre Dame Academy is also making renovations to its elementary and middle school building. It’s converting some office space and part of the assembly area into additional classrooms. When completed this additional space will provide the school with two additional classrooms for sixth grade, a new music room and a new art room, serving line and cafeteria, and a foreign language lab.

Notre Dame Academy is a Marist-sponsored school. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and is a candidate for authorization as an official International Baccalaureate program. The school features a Fitness for Life curriculum that includes daily physical education, and it has a service learning program, which calls for each grade to adopt a nonprofit organization for the duration of the school year. This program has enabled the school to help organizations such as the Hands of Christ Duluth Cooperative Ministries.

For more information about Notre Dame Academy, please contact Mary Rogelstad at 678-387-9385 ext. 608 or email her at mrogelstad@ndacademy.org.

Article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution