Recent Letter for K4 Families

Last week, the following letter was sent to our K4 families. This was the first time that I have ever had to send a letter like this, so as we were proofing the letter, I asked a parent (new to our school) to read over the letter to share some feedback with me. After she read the letter, she said, I do not have a child in K4, but I do have a younger sibling at a different preschool, and this information may prompt us to go ahead and move her to BBS so we have a spot for K5. It is with that it in mind that I am posting this here. For our families who may have younger children, this may help you as you look at placing them for K3 or K4. Feel free to email me with any questions you may have.

RE: K5 for 2012-2013

Dear K4 Parents,

It is an exciting time at Brainerd Baptist School. During my time as headmaster I have never before needed to send a letter like this. Our K4 program is experiencing the largest enrollment in many years: Because of such a great demand, we were able to add a fourth K4 class this fall. While this additional class is a wonderful offering, we are facing an issue we have not experienced in many years.

There are approximately 48 openings in our K5 program, and we currently have 58 students enrolled in K4 this year. In a typical year, we lose 7-10 students who choose the public schools for which they are zoned, and we usually have 3-5 students a year that choose to repeat K4 because of a summer or late birthday.

As you can see, if past history is an indication of our future, we are expecting few, if any, spaces available in K5 for next year. As our program has continued to grow, the demand for available space has also risen. We are already receiving calls for K5 for next year. Because of this, we will not be able to wait until the normal re-enrollment period (February) to determine what our families are planning to do. In an effort to be a good steward of our time and resources, we would like to take a poll of our existing K4 families. Accordingly, it is not our desire to walk families through the admissions process if there is no space for their students in our program. We want to reassure you that our current BBS families have first priority. Our desire is to be proactive in addressing our capacity issues and I appreciate your help in this endeavor. Please, submit the following information:

Child’s name:

For 2012-2012 our intention is: (Check one)

Re-enroll at Brainerd Baptist School for K5:

Our child will repeat K4 at Brainerd Baptist School:

We are planning on attending another school next year:

We also want to let our K4 parents know in advance that it will be very important to turn in re-enrollment forms on time (February). Any forms submitted after the deadline may result in forfeited space. If something happens and your intentions change, we respectfully ask you to please inform us. I can discuss this with you further if you have any questions.

Thank you for being a vital part of our school in this exciting time.

Sincerely,

Sean M. Corcoran