'People are buying into what we're about': Private schools grow while public school enrollment drops

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe and Lenexa. Share your story idea with Olivia.

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Private schools in Johnson County are seeing slight growth in enrollment as public schools experience a decline.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the latest available private school enrollment numbers are from 2021.

That data reportedly indicated private school enrollment nationwide was five percent higher than it was in 2011.

St. Thomas Aquinas President, Brian Schenck, has seen that trend in classrooms.

"Ever since COVID, we had an enrollment increase," Brian Schenck said.

KSHB

Schenck told KSHB-41 the school isn't immune to rising costs and lower birth rates, but they're working to help families make use of the new Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit.

So far the school has seen stable enrollment, and even a slight increase despite lower birth rates.

“No one can control that. That's just a reality that we all had to face, and so we've had to adjust budgets a little bit with because of that,” said Schenck.

Schenck attributes growth at Aquinas to what families find inside the school — a shared community and faith, along with more stability compared to what public schools are currently facing.

—Watch: Why private schools are growing as public school enrollment drops—

"Public schools do a good job to try to be everything to everybody. We're not going to be everything to everybody. And if it happens to contradict some of the other things that are happening in public education, that's good for us," Schenck said.

The Cox family is one example of the shift.

Joshua Cox and his family made the transition from public to private school in 2018, choosing St. Thomas Aquinas.

Cox said the family wanted more community and more of a say in their children's education.

KSHB

"We thought about a transition as Ethan was in seventh grade," Cox said. "Once he felt comfortable and found a home, it kind of became a no-brainer.”

"We felt like we just had more control over the decisions that were made for both us and our family in the smaller setting," Cox explained for why his family chose Aquinas and never looked back.

"We have to pass two high schools to get to Aquinas. That's obviously a decision that you're making at that point… to really have that sort of comfort that we're going to get the same experience year in and year out at Aquinas, no matter policies, politics, what's going on," Cox said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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