The retention rate of students is a complex process that administrators across all types of schools have to be creative with how to handle. This year, BSM has made strides to increase parent and student satisfaction in hopes of strengthening our already high retention rate.

Retention rate is not always consistent from year to year and varies for different reasons, such as moving, sports, or overall school fit. Regardless of the reason for leaving, BSM’s main priority is the success of their students, past and present, and hope only the best for their future. “Generally yes, [BSM does] have a pretty good and high retention rate. Every year is a little bit different because we always have students that leave because parents move or BSM’s just not the right fit, and we want to be able to make sure we’re meeting the needs of every single student. So I say this to a lot of parents, if they do end up pulling their child we want what’s best for their student. Sometimes we’re not the right fit, but I will always want to make sure that kids have the right fit and they’re being successful regardless,” Assistant Principal Matt Weingartz said.

This year, BSM has implemented a few new tactics to ensure students’ happiness and communication with parents. This includes phone calls to new families and writing positive postcards home to students who have been making a positive impact in class. “We have done a few different things or initiatives this year. There’s been people on the leadership team, as well as administration, that have been making phone calls. So we’re actually in the process of making our second round of phone calls right now during December, to be able just to check in to see how things are going to be able to try and help and support the best that we can. The other thing that we’ve started doing this year is we’ve been mailing personal postcards home and teachers have been doing that to be able to send those communications home. We are trying to show it’s not always a negative that you hear home from school, it’s trying to also highlight the positives,” Weingartz said.

Feeling as though you belong in a place is something that makes a school experience better, and BSM is hoping to provide opportunities for all students to find somewhere they belong. This helps not only strengthen how positive the school can be, but also the retention rate from year to year. “I think there’s a lot of different things, and hopefully there is something that somebody can gravitate towards here at BSM. Not everybody’s an athlete, not everybody is gonna be in activities, but there’s always something where students can feel that they’re a part of. I think we have a lot of opportunities and a lot of places where people can connect with something, and that’s the beauty of it and why people want to keep coming back to us,” Weingartz said.

If a student does decide to leave, BSM is hoping to have a more in-depth conversation before their departure to understand where they can do better. “We’re also looking at instituting a new plan of when we do have students leave, having a pretty formal exit interview so we can find out why they left, whether it be social, sports, financials, or whatever the case may be,” Lance Butner, board member and chairman of the strategic enrollment team said.

The future looks bright for BSM regarding enrollment and retention rate, as a majority of current students are enjoying their time, and new students seem to be more interested than ever before in attending BSM. This past fall, BSM held an open house and had record attendance, reporting that 151 families were in attendance, representing 54 different schools, and 129 of those families are looking to join the BSM community in the 2025-2026 school year. With this success, BSM will continue to put their students’ happiness first to continue seeing success in enrollment and retention rate numbers from year to year. “I think our commitment as a small community and as a Catholic school community, [is] to just be ensuring that the experience is a memorable one, that it’s a positive one, and making sure that we’re having discussions if and when there are some bumps on the road,” Senior High Director of Admissions Betsy Van Cleve said.