Enrollment builds in Duluth's private schools

DULUTH — Duluth's private schools are making big changes to manage growth: adding teachers, increasing teacher hours and, in some cases, reconfiguring the way buildings are used.

Private school enrollment in Duluth is now 27% higher than the largely pre-pandemic 2019-20 school year, state data shows. It's more than the approximately 10% growth in private schools across Minnesota.

While Duluth Public Schools showed slight growth in student population since last year, the district of about 8,500 has declined in enrollment 4% since 2020, mirroring what's happened in public schools around Minnesota.

The bump in private schools may have started during the pandemic as some families sought in-person instruction, but most of the families have chosen to stay private, leaders say, meaning long-term changes are being made to accommodate them.

The Catholic Stella Maris Academy, with more than 500 students this year, has increased enrollment by 28% since 2020. Another projected increase of 15% means a host of changes for next year, as it adds to its new high school and other grades are shifted among its four buildings.

"COVID has forever changed society, and one of those changes is it allowed parents to know there were opportunities outside the public option that existed," said Andrew Hilliker, president of the academy. "We're seeing young parents shop around for school like they haven't in the past."

Duluth's private Marshall School has had its enrollment grow by more than 20% since 2020, and it now has nearly 440 students.

The addition of an outdoors-based elementary program contributed, with families taking full advantage of the now K-12 school, said Jamie Steckart, head of Marshall.

"We had more applicants than spots," Steckart said of the new elementary program that opened this year. "That usually doesn't happen at Marshall."

Amanda Burrows enrolled her middle school-aged children at Marshall in January 2022 after moving from the Mankato area. Her younger children attend a Duluth Public Schools elementary, but she plans to enroll them in the Forest School next year.

Her family is happy with small class sizes and the school's sense of community, Burrows said.

"That is something we really value," she said. "We don't live near family or have a huge network of support, so schooling is a big piece of our kids' lives."

In recent years, the large hilltop school wasn't fully used, but that's expected to change as Marshall sees more students. Steckart said he plans to hire up to four more teachers for the Forest School, and up to four more for its upper grades if enrollment pushes past 500. Recently, the school restored hours to teachers who had them cut when enrollment was lower.

Stella Maris plans to hire at least five more full-time teachers. Next year it will add 10th grade to its high school of just freshmen this year, as it builds up to offering all four grades at the former Woodland Hills property in eastern Duluth, the Catholic academy's new building undergoing renovations.

With some of its schools at capacity and growth in its youth programs, Stella Maris campuses next year will house a different set of grades than they have in the past. That means some students from its West Duluth campus will travel to the high school campus across town.

"We're experiencing growing pains, but they are good pains to be experiencing," Hilliker said.

Data Editor MaryJo Webster contributed to this story.