After two years of research, brainstorming and fundraising, the Los Angeles Archdiocese's Department of Catholic Schools has launch a major marketing campaign to increase enrollment in 225 elementary and 50 secondary Catholic schools throughout Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

The goal is to stem a slow-but-steady decline in enrollment since 2000 --- especially in elementary schools, which has decreased from about 65,000 five years ago to 58,000 today. The tools include a professionally developed, integrated marketing kit with ready-to-use materials for newspaper and magazine ads, Web banners, logos, brochures, letterhead, posters, pocket folders, apparel (T-shirts, sweatshirts and polo shirts) and other items.

"We believe our schools are strong and good, yet the enrollment goes down every year," said Pat Livingston, superintendent of elementary schools. "Even though many of the public school districts are facing the same challenges with enrollment and are losing average daily attendance, we lose tuition money when our enrollment goes down.

"We know why many of the students left," she added. "Many moved away with their families to find more affordable housing, and there's the rising cost in tuition. But we don't know why young families aren't sending their kids to our schools in the first place. That's why we started the marketing campaign. The cardinal and bishops asked us to do it in the five pastoral regions."

Livingston and her secondary school counterpart Nancy Coonis agreed. The veteran educators sat down last week with The Tidings to talk about the challenges facing local Catholic schools and what they're doing about them.

Catching kids early
"The marketing plan focuses on parents making a first-time decision about Catholic school, targeting kindergarten and pre-school," said Coonis, who was a teacher, vice-principal and principal of St. Matthias High School for 25 years before becoming superintendent of high schools.

"We find if parents choose us early on, they're very motivated to keep their children in school. So catching the kids when they start school undergirds the whole campaign. Later on, it's a lot harder to get students to switch from public to Catholic schools, especially if they're doing well. There's no motivation to change."

Both concur that what local Catholic schools have to offer is a solid academic and faith-based learning system that works closely with parents to educate the whole child. But in a sprawling archdiocese the size of Los Angeles, with its tremendously diverse Catholic population, how do you get that across to all Angelenos?

That was the daunting challenge the marketing team, which includes archdiocesan school board member Mark Nixon, a marketing expect, and the Centrifuge Ad Agency, had to wrestle with. After months of data collection and analysis, they decided there was one message that all parents and guardians could identify with.

"Every parent wants the best for their child, no matter who they are," Livingston pointed out. "When they look at that child, they're so filled with love they want the very best they can give. And Catholic schools are the best.

"So we say, 'We're the best providers, and help them succeed on their parental aspirations to do all they can for their children. Because only Catholic schools provide the best start --- developing the whole child, their intellect and their character, in Christ's image for a better tomorrow.'"

The anchor ad of the campaign features a smiling teacher in her classroom looking down at a young boy and girl, who are glancing up and grinning. According to the particular school's racial and ethnic makeup, there are different students sitting at their desks. A circular logo at the bottom says "Truly on your team" in English or Spanish, with the image of a school and the words "Catholic Schools" in the center.

At a couple of hands-on marketing workshops starting in mid-December, principals received the marketing kits. To date, a number have placed newspaper ads in the San Gabriel Valley, the South Bay and Pasadena. In addition, billboards have gone up in the San Fernando Valley promoting the merits of Catholic education in general.

Future campaign plans call for more marketing sessions, a user-friendly step-by-step workbook for principals and their staffs, along with the creation or improvement of individual school Web sites.

"For the first year, we want to at least stop the decline," Livingston said. "That means bringing quite a number of new students in to replace the eighth-grade graduates. So the schools have to replace maybe 32 students with pre-school or kindergarten kids. And that's what has been hard for a number of schools to do."

New schools needed
On a brighter demographic note, the superintendents reported that a number of locales across the archdiocese could actually support a new or expanded Catholic school.

In the Santa Clarita Valley, the rapidly growing population could use two more parish elementary schools and a high school (only Our Lady of Perpetual Help School is currently available). Very few parochial grade schools serve the growing Diamond Bar-Hacienda Heights area of the southeast San Gabriel Valley.

In the Antelope Valley, Paraclete High School in Lancaster broke ground this year for a new 16-classroom building. And elementary schools in Lancaster and Palmdale are considering expanding to double classes.

Moreover, the Department of Catholic Schools is studying innovative models of how local elementary and secondary schools can be run.

"We're dealing with a lot of new ways of looking at governance in Catholic schools, bringing in more lay boards to help us," Coonis said. "We still believe that Catholic education in a lot of ways is best at the parish level, when you have a parish with its own elementary school that's a vital part of the parish.

"We love that model, but we may have to look at some other models in the future. You have many schools now that are 'commuter elementary schools,' where parents choose Catholic schools near their work or near grandparents. They drop them on their way to work and then the kids can stay with their grandparents until mom and dad get off work. There's also the consortium model, where schools get together and share resources."

The marketing effort is part of a broader strategic plan for schools in the archdiocese. Both administrators stressed that before local Catholic schools start selling themselves they need to be sure of the quality of the education they're offering. This means looking at a number of things, including curriculum, teacher skills, technology, funding plus the overall condition of the physical plant.

Regional supervisors will act as resource people for schools, helping them study educational data to determine a particular school's weaknesses as well as strengths. Another area the department wants to become more involved in is helping schools set up councils that can bring in needed expertise about public relations, finances, long-term planning and other related matters.

"So we're facing some critical issues if our Catholic schools are going to continue to thrive and flourish here in the archdiocese," Coonis said. "These issues must be addressed now or they will just develop into bigger problems."

Livingston nodded. "We hope that the schools will embrace the marketing plan," she said, "and follow the guidance we're giving them to raise enrollment and maintain the highest quality of education --- making sure that every child develops his or her God-given talents to the fullest."