Hawaii Catholic schools continue to lose several hundred students a year, a trend that has been consistent for the past decade.
It is the equivalent of one grade school closing every 12 months.
According to figures provided by the Hawaii Catholic Schools office, the 2013 school year opened with 9,110 preschool, elementary and high school students, 232 fewer than the previous year. It is the lowest enrollment figure since 1945.
Overall enrollment has dropped an average of 230 students a year for the past 10 years. The average enrollment of a Catholic grade school in Hawaii this past year was 237.
Although the full figures are down, a number of schools posted small gains last year. These include St. Catherine on Kauai, St. Joseph Elementary in Hilo, St. Anthony in Kalihi and St. John the Baptist in Kalihi.
Damien Memorial School enjoyed the biggest jump in students going from 473 in 2012 to 597 in 2013, an increase of 124, attributed to the former all boys school opening its doors to girls two years ago.
In the past five years, one school closed and two converted from grade schools to preschools.
Hawaii has 11 Catholic stand-alone preschools, 23 Catholic grade schools and seven Catholic high schools.
The highest enrollment on record was 17,150 in 1965-66, when the post war baby-boom was peaking. The numbers declined to the 14,000-level in the 1970s, rose again to 15,298 in 1980, and has been dropping steadily ever since.