The beauty of independent schools lies in their individuality. While national statistics have shown an overall shifting landscape in private school enrollment and demographics over the past few years, each private school, like its curriculum, history and community, is unique.
Four private schools in Rochester shared their enrollment statistics and demographics post-pandemic.
Founded in 1890, the Allendale Columbia School in Pittsford is an independent school for students from toddler age (Little School) through grade 12. Before the COVID-19 pandemic the school averaged about 75 new students a year across all levels; this year there are 90.
Baudo
“Independent schools are seeing a change in enrollment,” said Shannon Baudo, Allendale Columbia’s head of school. “This is in large part because of what happened with COVID where independent schools were able to offer in-person learning opportunities that many public schools were not.”
This year the school has students from 28 different school districts and 46 zip codes, which is an increase over years past, according to Shelby Riter, the school’s director of enrollment and financial aid, who notes this helps create a diverse mix of students in terms of race, ethnicity, religion, neurodiversity and socioeconomic standing.
Thirty-six percent of Allendale Columbia’s students identify as a student of color and over half of all families at the school receive financial aid. The majority of students come from Pittsford and the City of Rochester and, this year, there are also international students from 11 different countries.
“Over the last several years we have been one of the most diverse schools in the region,” Riter said. “We are familiar with welcoming students from not only all over Rochester and the county but all over the world. Welcoming our new families and welcoming our new students has always been a priority for us.”
At McQuaid Jesuit High School — a Catholic college-preparatory school for young men in grades six to 12 — enrollment significantly increased during the pandemic when most public schools were remote or hybrid, according to Cory Parker, the school’s director of enrollment management.
“There were a lot of families who didn’t want their sons to be hybrid or completely remote for multiple reasons — academic and social,” said Parker, who noted McQuaid stayed open five days a week for in-person learning. “We got a lot of public-school families that we hadn’t been able to access before.”
Parker
Parker, who graduated from McQuaid in 2013, believes a lot of families are still looking to private schools for something that they may not be getting in their home district post-pandemic. Enrollment at McQuaid this year is strong at 742 students and increasingly diverse.
Almost 70 percent of current students did not come from a Catholic school and about half are not Catholic. The school pulls from 40 different school districts and a third of students receive financial aid, with the average award being half of the student’s annual tuition.
“We have students of all different religions, racial backgrounds and socioeconomic backgrounds,” Parker said. “That’s what we want. Our values are that we want students who are trying to be the best human beings they can be and are open to growth not just academically, but also with each other.”
After two decades in higher education, Jonathan Ntheketha joined the staff of the Harley School — a student-centered, college preparatory, independent day school in Brighton — in 2021 as a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) educator.
Ntheketha, a Rochester native and independent school graduate, is now Harley’s first director of DEI, where he and his office help lead a robust DEI curriculum that was begun before he started but has expanded.
“We have to position ourselves to be confident with being uncomfortable and that starts with the whole school from nursery to 12th grade,” said Ntheketha, who teaches several of the DEI classes at the school. Harley’s age-appropriate slate of DEI courses includes a middle school course on the structural impact of racism on communities, including Rochester.
The first sentence of Harley’s mission is “We are a diverse, inclusive school,” which is reflective of both its present and its past. It was founded by women in 1917, which places it in a unique and historic position to honor and validate every member of the community, Ntheketha said.
Among its student body of 517, 38 percent are racially/ethnically diverse — an increase of five percent since pre-pandemic and the near majority receive financial aid. The school is also home to a number of neurodiverse and gender-diverse students.
“That’s another area of diversity that exists here where students are affirmed however they identify,” Ntheketha said. “And where they are on their journey is where we are with them. That’s something I take a tremendous amount of pride in and I’m really happy for.”
Founded in 1902, the Aquinas Institute is the oldest private co-educational Catholic school in the City of Rochester, something that Meredith Kallfelz, the school’s associate director of advancement, enrollment and communications, says set a foundation of diversity and inclusivity at the school.
Kallfelz
“We’ve always been really fortunate to have a diverse student population that is very representative of Monroe County’s demographics,” Kallfelz said, “It’s wonderful and embodies our mission.”
There are 718 students this year from 22 school districts across nine counties. Approximately 60 percent of the student population at Aquinas receives some type of scholarship or financial aid.
Aquinas, which educates students in grades six through 12 in the Basilian tradition, also has a robust international student program with 22 international students this year from China, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and South Korea.
Kallfelz says enrollment at Aquinas has stayed consistent over the past several years and the school has been happy to welcome new families.
“During the pandemic, we saw more families looking into private education and many were happy with what they found,” she said.
Caurie Putnam is Rochester-area freelance writer.