While being in a significantly better position than the majority of Catholic schools in the Philadelphia region, Bishop Shanahan High School must constantly market itself to keep classrooms filled. Michael Bradley studied the institutional efforts for Main Line Today.

Parochial school enrollments are down nationwide. Fewer American families identify with Catholicism. And the financial investment in a non-public school can be daunting, especially for families with more than one high school student.

Shanahan, however, is in a better position than many.

Its Downingtown location is undergoing a residential real estate construction boom. The families migrating into those dwellings may help parish memberships remain strong.

But real-estate trends aside, it takes a lot of hard work to keep enrollments up. “We have to hustle; it doesn’t come easily,” said former principal Mike McArdle, who retired at the end of last school year.

For 2020-21, the school’s enrollment was 968, with a freshman class of 208. Its targeted number of students is 900.

Tuition at Shanahan is $9,450.

“People are looking at college tuition and are starting to ask whether they want to pay for high school, too,” said McArdle.

Read more about Bishop Shanahan in Main Line Today.