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Continuous Enrollment

Continuous Enrollment: Set It and Forget It!

Throughout our history at Delaware Christian School, more than 90% of students annually re-enroll for the following school year. We love our students and are proud to see such strong retention numbers year after year. In the past, re-enrollment wasn't simple enough, so we moved to Continuous Enrollment.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Re-Enrollment?
Re-enrollment is an annual data collection process that schools use to update enrollment records of the current student body.  The information is used as the school makes plans for the upcoming school year. 

Why Does Re-Enrollment Matter? And why do we go through this every year?
The DCS administrative team engages in a tremendous amount of planning to ensure that we are prepared to fulfill our mission of providing quality Christian education every year.  Until DCS families confirm their intention to enroll for the upcoming year, we cannot make solid plans for staffing, programs, materials, curriculum, and facility usage.  We take the stewardship of tuition dollars very seriously, and we want to invest tuition revenue wisely so that we can provide the best programs 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 DCS until I notify the school otherwise?
Prior to the spring of 2017, 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 everyone to go through the re-enrollment process every year.  Last year, we retained 93% of our student body.  So EVERYONE had to go through re-enrollment for the sake of the 7% that, for one reason or another, left our school community. 

By signing your Continuous Enrollment contract, you will be flipping that script.  Rather than an opt-in annual re-enrollment process, DCS’s annual re-enrollment will become an OPT-OUT process.  In other words, if you are coming back after signing your Continuous Enrollment Contract, you will never have to worry about re-enrollment again!

So after this year, what will the re-enrollment process look like?
Moving forward, the typical re-enrollment season (January – March) will simply be a communication reminder from the DCS office informing families that might be thinking about leaving our school to notify us prior to the end of March.  If last year is any indication, this means that 90+% of DCS families will have the convenience of ignoring this message and doing absolutely nothing!

What is the penalty if I break the Continuous Enrollment contract?
Families that notify DCS prior to March 15 may withdraw without penalty.  DCS families that are re-enrolled, but break the Continuous Enrollment contract by disenrolling their child(ren) after March 15 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 DCS until high school graduation.  What if God has other plans for my family?
We have built flexibility into the Continuous Enrollment Contract.  So, for major life changes/unique circumstances like moving 25+ miles away from our school, DCS can no longer meet your child’s educational needs, if the school asks your family to leave, or if there is some unforeseen circumstance that our School Board 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 chil(ren) will keep coming back to DCS every year unless I notify the school of an enrollment change.
  • I understand that I have until the end of March every year to notify the school 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 15, I understand that I will be contractually obligated to pay 1 month of tuition (per child) as a penalty.
  • Unique Circumstances: Delaware Christian School recognizes that family plans change.  For any unique circumstance (such as the following) families disenrolling after the March 15 deadline will be exempt from the 1 month tuition penalty:
    • Moving/Relocation 25+ miles away from Delaware Christian School
    • Educational needs for the student that can no longer be met at Delaware Christian School as determined by the DCS administration and faculty.
    • Disenrollment at the request of Delaware Christian School
    • Other circumstances approved by the Delaware Christian School Board.

How do I benefit from Continuous Enrollment?

Simplicity.

Guaranteed placement.  With increasing enrollment, we are either at or near waitlists in several of our grades, and placement in next year’s classes is an increasingly sought after spot.  By opting into continuous enrollment, you will be securing your child’s position until their graduation.