Meitler Minute
National research by two of our partner organizations has revealed four common factors for why parents don't enroll their kids in Catholic schools. Learn what they are and how we are helping principals overcome the challenge.
Enrollment and Value
I’m spending a lot of time with Catholic schools in the Midwest and Northeast where enrollment trends are a concern and a challenge. We often hear and see through research that populations are changing and shifting, more people are moving to the sunbelt and warmer climates, and many Catholic families...
Meitler Minute
This week we pause to celebrate the gift of a Catholic education. This week long celebration provides schools across the nation a set time to honor our parish communities, school boards, students, faculty, staff, volunteers, and administrators. It is a time in which we showcase a Catholic education. The team...
Planning Missteps
I recently read an article in a digital publication called “Ladders, Inc.,” an information/news source focusing on a wide range of work, career and management-related issues. What piqued my interest is that it shared missteps to avoid in developing a comprehensive growth plan, obviously a topic that warrants a read...
Generous Stewardship
December 3rd marks the eighth Giving Tuesday since its inception in 2012. In 2018, on Giving Tuesday, over 400 million dollars were raised online from over 150 different countries. #GivingTuesday has created a movement. Yet, hasn’t that movement of the spirit of generosity been planted in our hearts from our...
Thanks for Caring
As a company we have guided many dioceses through the process of merging, opening and regionalizing schools. The folks leading those efforts often feel a sense of frustration when people express anger, heartache and sadness upon hearing the news that their beloved Catholic school is closing, merging or reopening under...
Eleven Catholic School Principals Selected for National Mentor Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Eleven Catholic School Principals Selected for National Mentor Program Year-long Pilot Program to Provide Ongoing Coaching and Mentoring Washington, D.C. (October 31, 2019) Catholic elementary school principals who demonstrate strong, transformational leadership were nominated by superintendents from all regions of the country to participate in a new...
Communication – the new-fashioned kind
When performing market research for a school, it is very common to interview older alumni and hear how the school should be more like when the alum was attending. Questions like: Why isn’t the school enrollment as large as when I went here? Why don’t you get more nuns/priests/brothers? Why...
Web 1.0, Web 2.O, Web 3.O, Oh My!
In today’s digital age, there is in my opinion, an appropriate amount of emphasis placed on increasing student engagement. Wonderful tools, such as the eleot, exist to accurately measure student engagement in the learning process. As an educational consultant, my research in schools typically uncovers a common reality: many teachers...
Enrollment and the Power of Moments
I am currently reading for a second time, The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact, by Heath & Heath. It explores the examples and research on how some brief encounters or experiences can strike us, impress, affect, and change us. The first time I read it through...
Why Personalized Learning? Because it Works!
Let me tell you about a boy named Caleb. Caleb was a 7th grader who could be defined as “a class clown.” He had remarks for everyone and always had to get in the final word. He struggled academically and sat quietly in the classroom during discussions or lectures. He...
National Catholic School Mentorship Program
This past week the Meitler team had the privilege of gathering at the Carmelite Retreat Center in Darien, Illinois to host the pioneer cohort of the National Catholic School Mentorship Program at a three-day Leadership Institute. The goal of this two-year program is to equip school leaders the knowledge, skills...
Rhythm and Reboot
An unintentional consequence of my intentional decision to step away from serving in a school as a principal to serving many schools as a consultant has been the need to establish a new rhythm to the summer months. While there is certainly down time in the summer for a school’s...
Power of Play
As a young child I recall my kindergarten experience included numerous opportunities for free play, socialization, listening to my teacher read stories on the carpet, and spending time outdoors. Fast forward 50+ years, and four and five-year-old kindergarten classrooms include full reading, writing and math curricula with pre- and post-tests...
Catholic Schools United in Christ
I recently came across a great quote that described Catholic school culture as “…a way of life rooted in Christ, a Gospel-based creed and code and a Catholic vision that provides inspiration…” (Flynn, 1993). I have spent time reflecting on this image as it relates to my work in Catholic...
Current Century Catholic Education
In any arena, given enough time, trends emerge. Emerging, in our work with Catholic schools across the country, is the reality the landscape in Catholic schools is rapidly changing. Parents are well informed savvy customers when it comes to choosing a school for their son/daughter. In some cases, the student...
New Catholic School Studies on the Rise
In the past several years Meitler has seen a rise in the number of requests for us to lead new school feasibility studies. Geographically, we have partnered with diocesan, parish and lay leaders across the country in Texas, California, Michigan, Idaho, Nebraska, Louisiana, Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, North Carolina, Florida, New...
Exceptional Needs
As a former Catholic school principal who sat with parents seeking a Catholic education for their son/daughter who had exceptional needs the realization of the scarcity of resources in Catholic schools was often front and center. There existed a delicate balance between saying yes, enroll your son/daughter and then us...
The Hispanic Conundrum
Many Catholic schools are experiencing declining enrollment. What is surprising is that so many of them are ignoring the potential contained within the growing Hispanic population. There are numerous reasons why a school ignores the Hispanic community within its attendance area. They believe Hispanic parishioners can’t afford the tuition; they...
Celebrating Catholic Education
Having celebrated Catholic Schools Week nearly 6 months ago, I was reflecting on our gathering of Catholic school teachers, leaders, staff, pastors, supporters and friends at the 2019 National Catholic Educational Association conference in Chicago. I can’t help but feel proud of the wonderful contributions our schools make to our...
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