A small private school in Baton Rouge with an international bent has announced it will close its doors after 22 years in operation, citing a big drop in enrollment during the pandemic from which the school has yet to recover.
“It is ... with deep and heartfelt sadness that I write to tell you that Baton Rouge International School will permanently close at the end of this school year,” read a letter sent to parents of the school's students.
The private school, which is located at 5015 Auto Plex Drive, will hold its last day of classes May 26. The late-arriving news, after most other private schools have already enrolled students for next year, has sent families scrambling to find new schools for their children.
"We’re stabbing in the dark hoping we might get on a wait list," said Dawn DePorter-Kimmence, who has two children at the school.
She said she's still hoping a benefactor will come in to save the school she loves.
Enrollment at Baton Rouge International School has declined from 309 students in fall 2019 to just 188 students this February, according to the Louisiana Department of Education. The school, which starts in pre-kindergarten and goes to 12th grade, saw a particularly sharp drop in its high school grades, declining from 75 to just nine students over that time period. The school also operates a popular preschool.
The school is part of a global network of 50 schools known as the International Schools Partnership. ISP acquired the Baton Rouge school in late 2018 from the founder and owner Nathalie Guyon. Guyon stayed on until summer 2020 as head of school. Monday's letter to parents was signed by Sarah Graves, an ISP regional managing director for its schools in the United States and Canada. The network's headquarters is in London.
In the letter, Graves said the school held out hope of reversing its loss of students if enough families renewed for the coming school year, but those hopes have been dashed.
“Now well into April and more than 60% behind where we were at this time last year, we have come to the painful determination that the school is no longer educationally sustainable,” according to the letter.
An ISP spokeswoman did not offer additional comment Tuesday, saying Monday's letter "lays out our position pretty comprehensively."
DePorter-Kimmence said Tuesday she had known enrollment was down, but didn't know that the school was in danger of closing until she received the emailed letter Monday afternoon as school let out.
“It was during carpool," she said. "As (cars) were pulling out, it was just crossing paths in our email."
Families who have already signed up for 2022-23 school year will have their money refunded, as will families who signed up for summer camp. Tuition ranges from $10,880 to $11,660 depending on the grade; families with multiple children at the school received discounts. The tuition for some students is covered through the Louisiana Scholarship Program, the state's private school voucher program, which Baton Rouge International School began participating in during 2018.
In addition to enrollment declines, the school has seen leadership changes. The current head of school is Tanya Price took over last year after the departure of the previous head of school, Vicki Jarrell, who was there one year.
DePorter-Kimmence said the school hasn't been the same ISP took over from Guyon.
"It was like night and day," she said.
The school's approach to COVID contributed to enrollment declines, DePorter-Kimmence said, saying just one positive case would prompt administrators to cut the day short and send home all students.
"Parents aren’t just able to drop everything to come and pick up their children," she said.
Baton Rouge International School stands out in the local education landscape. It offers a full multilingual immersion program in English, Spanish, French and Chinese. And high school students have had the chance to take advanced courses via both the International Baccalaureate Program and Advanced Placement.
DePorter-Kimmence said her children, who have been at the school since they were infants and are in prekindergarten and kindergarten, can communicate in French and Spanish and also know some Chinese and are also challenged in their regular subjects.
"You don’t get exposure to that everywhere," she said. "It sets them up in life for success that not everyone has access to.”
Graves with ISP said that the school cut back this year on some of its offerings but those cuts “had detrimental impacts on learning and social experiences.”
“As stewards of the school, we feel a deep responsibility to our students — and you, their families — to recognize when we cannot deliver what they need and deserve. Regrettably, that time is now,” Graves wrote.
The school says it’s trying to find new schools for its students and is working to find spots in other ISP schools for staff. ISP also plans to offer a scholarship to its remaining 10th and 11th graders to help them with tuition at their next school “in an amount equivalent to what their tuition would have been at (Baton Rouge International School).”
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