Lakes Region private schools see enrollment increase

While the past two years have been challenging for public schools, those in private education have reported a surge in enrollment, both from families frustrated with pandemic restrictions as well as those looking for a different approach to learning.

“Our enrollment is up by 35%,” said Rick Duba, head of schools at Laconia Christian Academy. This is a common theme among the Lakes Region’s private schools. Acton Academy, Holy Trinity and Laconia Christian Academy, all located in Laconia have all had major increases in their school’s enrollment. 

Holy Trinity’s 45% jump in enrollment, according to Vincent “Butch” Schuck, head of schools, can be largely attributed to the school’s response to COVID. Many public schools in the Lakes Region have shut down, required masking and enforced strict social distancing. Holy Trinity, as a smaller school, has been able to remain open for most of the pandemic, maintain parent choice about masking while still making efforts to continue social distancing without any serious COVID outbreaks. This has led parents looking for a sense of normalcy for their children to make the switch to private Catholic schooling for their child’s education.  “Catholic education is also something that a lot of families are looking for right now,” said Schuck. Schuck also said that he thinks the virus was the tipping point for a lot of parents who were considering private school before.

Laconia Christian Academy, a Kindergarten through 12 school, had a similar response to the virus and is also a small school like Holy Trinity. Laconia Christian Academy continued to hold sporting events as normal and allowed students to remain unmasked with similar results as Holy Trinity. The school boasts a record of no internal transmission. 

COVID is not the only factor contributing to that increase in enrollment. Duba said that private school tax credits through the Educational Freedom Act have made the option more affordable. New Hampshire has a new “school choice program” that was implemented by the New Hampshire legislature in August of 2021. The program allows eligible families to receive taxpayer funds for their child’s education. Divisiveness on public school boards has also pushed parents who want more control over their child’s education toward private schools, Duba said. The enrollment increase has necessitated new staff and expanded programming. 

Acton Academy, a non-traditional “learner driven” franchise school has also seen a tremendous increase in their enrollment and a growth in school size as a result. “We’re growing rapidly,” said Mary MacIntosh, head of schools at Acton, which has a school in Laconia. “We’ve grown in staff,” she said. Acton will be opening a new high school soon, following their new middle school opening, as well as a new Spark program for four- through five-year-olds, which will be an outdoor, hands-on, project-based learning system using Montessori techniques.

This school’s approach to education has opened them up to a whole different sect of reasons for the enrollment increases, as their school continues to mask children inside. According to MacIntosh the new parents coming in are fed up with the lack of individualism at public schools. Acton Academy uses project- and movement-based learning for their students and allows students to use different applications and approaches for each student depending on their learning style. There are no grade levels at Acton which allows children to accelerate in one area of their learning while staying on grade level in another if necessary for that student.

Some parents have similar things to say about choosing private schooling. Christen Oliver, a new Laconia Christian Academy parent, attributes COVID to her children falling behind in school so she went in search of a new environment for her two students, Savanna a sixth grader and Emma a third grader. With the Educational Freedom Act now in place the family could afford to send their children to private schools. The family moved both of their daughters to LCA at the beginning of this school year. The smaller school size makes for a closer community of parents, faculty and students, according to Oliver. That community gives parents more opportunities to volunteer and be involved in school activities such as sports and theater. 

Other things that Oliver cited include the school’s focus on outdoor play and learning, as well as the school’s leadership program. The Christian values of the school were also important to her.

LaShunda Allen also is very appreciative of her son’s education at Laconia Christian. She joined the school in 2017 when she moved to the area from Meredith. She said the more rigorous class load challenged her child in a way that public school was not doing, that the smaller setting helped her son build relationships with teachers and that the Christian values of the school were important to her as well. “LCA is a great school. It has a lot to offer.” Allen said.