Aug. 27, 2001 – St. John's two private, non-parochial schools both show large increases in enrollment for the new academic year.
When The Coral Bay School opens its doors on Tuesday for its second year of operation, it will have more than twice as many students as it did in its first year.
Co-administrator Scott Crawford said 30 students are now enrolled, up from 13 last year. As part of its growth plan to add a grade a year through senior high school, Coral Bay has now added 10th grade to last year's offerings of grades 7 through 9. But the new students are spread throughout all the grades, he said.
"Some are new to the island, some were home schooled or from other schools, and four are coming from St. Thomas," Crawford said.
To keep up with the growth, The Coral Bay School added two full-time teachers for a total of four and two more part-time teachers for a total of three. The school, housed at the Lumberyard shopping complex, also has expanded into adjacent space there, and this has allowed for the creation of a new science lab and a student common area.
Pine Peace School, which offers pre-school through grade 6, has added more than 40 students this year, administrator Beth Knight said. The new school year began Wednesday.
While Pine Peace has not hired any additional teachers it has replaced those who left at the end of last school year. Knight said the school has introduced pottery classes for this year and has changed the focus of its physical education classes to make them more fitness oriented. "They have yoga," she said.
Knight, who took over the administrator's post this year, said she sees more people interested in sending their children to private school. The appeals of Pine Peace include an extensive computer laboratory and "incredible teachers," she said, and private schools have more resources in general than public schools. "The supplies are there," she said, and "there's more parental involvement."
St. John's only private parochial school, Cruz Bay Baptist School, is scheduled to open for the new academic year on Sept. 4. No one there could be reached for information.
