What is Perpetual/Continuous Enrollment?

It is almost the time of the year where we send out re-enrollment packets and once again ask our parents to sign their child back up for another school year at BBS.  Over the years, I have had many conversations with parents about how the entire "re-enrollment process" is just cumbersome. Why do we ask families to fill out forms each year and make them mentally decide to come back? Most of the time the information that is asked hasn't changed from the previous year, and our retention rate averages about 96% each year, which shows that the majority of our families intend on having their child graduate from Brainerd Baptist School.

Back in November, I began to explore the possibility of changing the way we do re-enrollment. I was driven by the thought of how can we make this process easier (and better) for our parents. What if we formally instituted a policy that followed our mindset, which is, "we are committed to educating your child and will reserve a space for them until they graduate"? Basically, like when a student enrolls in college, your contract will serve as the binding agreement for your child's remaining years at Brainerd Baptist School. This process that many schools across the country are adopting is called "perpetual or continuous" enrollment. In a couple of weeks you will receive your last annual contract from Brainerd Baptist School.  In a few weeks, our parents will complete the re-enrollment process for the final time!  We will no longer require you to jump through many hoops. Any parent that does not intend for their child to return will simply notify the school (in writing) during the opt-out window each spring.  We are excited about this change, and really believe our parents are going to love not having to worry about this process anymore. 
For those of you who are interested in reading more about this concept, here are some links to some articles that talk about it more in-depth. 

• Three Reason Why Continuous Enrollment Makes Sense.
• Automatic Re-enrollment: Could this work at your school?

I love the fact that our school community is often willing to take a critical look at ourselves in the mirror and look for opportunities to improve. I really do believe that our parents are going to love this change. We will soon be communicating more specific information about this change. If you have any questions before then, please feel free to reach out to me.