Continuous Enrollment

Continuous Enrollment: Set it and Forget It!
Most years, well over 90% of eligible Eastern Christian School families return for the following school year. We’ve worked hard to make the year over year process as user-friendly as possible for our committed families. Gone are the days of traditional re-enrollment where families had to indicate they were coming back each and every year! We are proud to be a Continuous Enrollment school – once you’re in, we simply roll your information over to the following year!
 

What is traditional re-enrollment and why did it matter?

Re-enrollment is an annual data collection process that many schools use to update enrollment records of the current student body. This information is used as the school makes plans for the following school year. Basically, the simple question is: “Are you coming back to school next year?” For our leadership team at Eastern Christian School, we need to know how many students we will have on the first day of school.

EC leadership does a lot of planning to ensure that we’re prepared to fulfill our mission excellently every year. Until EC families “sign on the line” that they’re coming back each year, we can’t make solid plans for staffing, programs, materials, curriculum and facility usage. We take the stewardship of tuition dollars entrusted to us every year very seriously. About the same time our families re-commit to continued partnership, Eastern Christian School makes the commitment to roughly 80% of our expenses incurred each year via the exceptional staff contracted! We want to invest these tuition dollars wisely so that we can provide the best Christian educational experience possible for our students.

I have no plans to change schools- and almost everybody comes back every year anyway. Can’t I just stay at EC until I notify the school otherwise?

Yes, you can! 

Historically, re-enrollment was an “opt-in” program. We annually asked every family, “Are you coming back?” In a sense, we were penalizing the vast majority of families by forcing them to go through this process every year. In a normal year, for instance, we retain 91+% of our student body. So EVERYONE had to go through re-enrollment for the sake of the small percentage that, for one reason or another, left our school community.

Now, by enrolling in EC and signing your contract, you will be flipping that script. Rather than an opt-IN annual re-enrollment process, EC’s annual re-enrollment will become an OPT-OUT process. In other words, if you’re coming back after signing your “Continuous Enrollment Contract,” you’ll never have to worry about this.

Will I be notified of deadlines?

The typical re-enrollment season (January through March) will simply be a series of communication reminders from the Enrollment Office.  This is an opportunity and reminder for the families that might be thinking about leaving our school to notify us prior to the end of March. We are blessed to have a very strong retention.  Historically 91+% of EC families will have the convenience of ignoring this message and doing absolutely nothing!

What’s the penalty if I break this contract?

EC families that break the contract by dis-enrolling their students after the specified date will be contractually obligated to pay 1 month of tuition. While the penalty may seem steep, many schools require a semester or even a year of tuition once a family is enrolled for the following year.

But what about unique circumstances? I’m planning on keeping my kids at EC until college. What if God has other plans for my family?

We’ve built flexibility into this contract. So, for major life changes/unique circumstances like moving 25+ miles away from our school, or if EC can no longer meet your child’s educational needs as determined by the EC Student Services team, if we ask your family to leave, or if there is some unforeseen circumstance that our Board of Directors approves, there will be no financial penalty.

What will the Continuous Enrollment Contract Look Like?
  • I hereby opt into continuous enrollment. This means that my EC students will keep coming back to EC every year unless I tell the school otherwise.
  • I understand that I have until the end of March every year to notify the Eastern Christian School Enrollment Office of any changes in my plans of enrollment for my child/ren
  • If I breach this contract by disenrolling my child/ren after March 31, I understand that I will be contractually obligated to pay 1 month of tuition as a penalty.
  • Unique Circumstances. Eastern Christian School recognizes that family plans change. For any unique circumstances (such as the following) families disenrolling after the announced deadline will be exempt from the 1 month tuition penalty:
    • Moving/Relocation 25+ miles away from Eastern Christian School.
    • Educational needs for the student that can no longer be met at Eastern Christian School as determined by the EC Student Services teams.
    • Dis-enrollment at the request of Eastern Christian School.
    • Other circumstances as approved by the Board of Directors.
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What do I get out of this?

Simplicity & guaranteed placement. With increasing enrollment, we are either at or near waitpools in many of our grades, placement in next year’s class is an increasingly sought-after spot. By opting into continuous enrollment, you’ll be locking down that coveted seat for your child until graduation.

But you said there are waitpools in some grades, so is it really a big deal if I change my commitment later?

We like to keep programs consistent no matter the class size and hold to class size guidelines to ensure a great experience for every student. In the event of a seat opening, it is possible we’ll be able to fill the seat in certain grades. However, some years we have gone through over a dozen waitpooled students in a particular grade and not filled the seat because families need to make solidified plans and can’t always ‘wait to see’ if a seat will open up that particular school year. Waitpooled (not wait LIST) students are very carefully considered when/if a seat opens up dependent on the very personal needs of each student and the resources available connected with departing students. Students are not just a ‘number’ and replaced, it is a prayerful and thorough process. In other cases, a couple of students withdrawing last minute can impact what