As towns and school districts in the Chicagoland area began to announce their fall plans–with most public schools opting for full remote learning–thousands of calls have been flooding Catholic schools and other private schools, many of which have seen a massive increase in students.

     Many public school parents expressed concern for their children’s overall progress and education, as they found the e-learning experience in the spring to be unsatisfactory. These concerns have ultimately led Fenwick to see a record number of incoming transfer students this year. In total, Fenwick has received 24 transfers students this year, compared to the ten Fenwick received in the 2019-2020 school year. In particular, the school has received a vast majority of its transfer population from Guerin College Preparatory High School, which closed permanently after the 2019-2020 school year. Fenwick received roughly a dozen students from Guerin Prep, making up half of the transfer student population this fall.

     When asked about this increase in transfers and its impact on the school, admissions director Mr. Ori explained, “We had a bunch of families wondering what we were doing this school year, and we are hoping to see an increase in our eighth-grade pool this year. I think our size is one of our strengths here at Fenwick because in uncertain times like these, families can see that we can manage e-learning well. After all, we are not a huge school district.”

     Fenwick is doing many things to make the quality of the e-learning as strong as possible, including providing full-time staff to assist the teachers in reaching the students digitally. Ori explained, “What our families will see at home is that we still have the resources to help students, like Friar Mentors, the Write Place, and counselors.”

     Fenwick’s administration is excited and eager to be able to accommodate these students, and to help them to make this transition smoothly. Ori said, “We felt compelled as a local Catholic school to do all we can to help those children learn and find a community that was welcoming to help them reach their goals.”