Baton Rouge International School will close at the end of the school year due to low enrollment, the school announced in a letter sent to parents on Monday.
BRIS, which opened in 1999, saw a devastating drop in enrollment last year, the letter says, and in April 2022 saw a 60% drop in enrollment compared to the same period last year. last.
The school is no longer educationally viable, reads the letter, written by Sarah Graves, regional chief executive of the International Schools Partnership, which runs 50 international schools and took over operation of BRIS in 2019.
BRIS stands out in the Baton Rouge area because of its language immersion programs, which allow students from preschool age to learn French, English, Spanish and Chinese, as well as offering students high school courses in the International Baccalaureate Program and Advanced Placement. .
The school has seen several management changes in recent years in addition to new owners, with the post of headteacher changing hands twice in two years. BRIS has been looking at other possibilities in order to keep the doors open for at least a year, Graves writes.
“Unfortunately,” she says, “every route was fraught with potential pitfalls of operational and personnel issues that would simply not allow us to achieve the level and quality of education that we consider it our duty to provide. The overall reduction in school size has already had detrimental effects on learning and social experiences.
Registration and application fees for students already registered for the 2022-2023 school year will be refunded. The school is offering students in grades 10 and 11 a scholarship to pay tuition at their next school.
BRIS will also help parents place their children in new schools. School administrators review comparable schools, assess seat availability and offer tuition waivers and tuition matching arrangements, Graves says.
A BRIS representative could not be reached for comment.