By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Leadership at Alabaster’s Kingwood Christian School has issued a “call to action” to its families and the community to help it meet its enrollment goals for the 2019-2020 academic year to remain “in a financial position to sustain the operations” at the school, according to school headmaster Ruth Gray.

In an email to parents on May 3, Gray outlined the steps necessary to meet the enrollment goals by the end of May, and said the school’s enrollment for the next school year is down from where the school was a year ago.

“Looking ahead to the 2019-2020 school year, we launched a campaign called ‘The Kingwood Difference’ to introduce more families to our school,” Gray wrote in the letter to parents. “Since then, we have welcomed inquiries from several prospective families, and we have been delighted to share with them how our mission is to educate not only the mind – but also the soul.

“We have a serious challenge ahead of us, though. While we continue to meet with prospective families, our enrollment level for the next school year is roughly 50 students below where we were at the beginning of last May,” Gray added. “By the end of this month, we need to see a strong surge of 60 students added to our enrollment. This increase in enrollment is essential to keep us in a financial position to sustain the operations of Kingwood Christian School.”

Gray said the school has been working to “strategically identify and reach more students and families who can prosper here,” and encouraged parents to help school leaders meet the enrollment goal by the end of the month.

“While 60 enrollments is not all that we will need by the first day of school in August, this gain during the month of May would provide us with confidence that we would be able to reach a healthy enrollment level for the coming year,” Gray wrote. “Increased enrollment is the only sustainable path forward. And we hope you will join us in our efforts in the days and weeks to come.”

In the week following the initial email to parents, Gray said the school enrolled several new students for the upcoming school year, and said KCS parent Dr. Debbie Bolden has organized a meet-and-greet for those interested in learning more about KCS on Sunday, May 19, at 2 p.m. at Alabaster’s Veterans Park.

“While we are aware that some outside sources have spread misinformation and rumors, the fact is that KCS continues to work to reach its enrollment goal, and nothing has changed since Friday’s communications with our families. We are pressing ahead with a prayerful hope of reaching our goal, and any information to the contrary is simply incorrect,” Gray wrote in second letter to parents on May 9. “We believe the best course of action for the sake of our students, our staff and everyone who loves Kingwood, is to work together in unity to help more people discover the benefits our school provides. And we are tremendously grateful for all families who are supporting these efforts.”