Norwich – In the increasing climate of competition for high school enrollment throughout the region, Norwich Free Academy officials plan to offer free transportation for the next two school years for Brooklyn students who attend NFA, a first for the regional high school.

NFA officials said Monday the offer is being made because NFA already is a “school of choice” for Brooklyn students and the academy hopes to formalize that arrangement. Head of School David Klein said the Brooklyn transportation offer is part of an overall push to boost enrollment at NFA and to keep tuition costs affordable for all partner districts.

“We need to pay attention to emerging markets,” Klein said. Brooklyn has an estimated 110 eighth-graders making high school choices. Klein added that there are no similar pending offers in the near future – although a letter to NFA partner districts on Friday explaining the Brooklyn arrangement said similar deals would be offered to other school districts “wishing to become new officially designated NFA partners.”

Klein said NFA is not looking to “poach” students from other towns, but the academy has ramped up marketing efforts in the competitive high school climate to attract students. NFA's enrollment was 2,283 as of Oct. 1 this school year and is projected at about 2,300 next school year, academy spokesman Geoff Serra said.

At the same time, other school districts have been courting NFA partner towns. Ledyard High School and Bacon Academy in Colchester earlier this month reached agreements with the Norwich Board of Education to bring up to 45 Norwich students to Bacon and 40 to Ledyard High School as schools of choice for Norwich students.

“This is not a reaction to Bacon and Ledyard,” Klein said Monday. “We started this (the Brooklyn discussions) two years ago. We pay attention to emerging markets.”

Currently, 11 Brooklyn students attend NFA. While the town pays for tuition, the families must make their own transportation arrangements, NFA officials said. Brooklyn does provide bus transportation to its traditional schools of choice, Killingly High School and Woodstock Academy.

Klein said NFA has seen strong interest from Brooklyn families during school presentations in the past two years in town. NFA Director of Student Affairs John Iovino said for the past two years he has handed out dozens of NFA information packets to Brooklyn parents, but the transportation hurdle proved too much of an obstacle for many parents.

Klein has asked the private NFA Foundation to fund the estimated $55,000 to $60,000 per year cost of the Brooklyn bus transportation plan as part of the academy's annual request for funding to the foundation to pay for specific programs or campus improvements and to offset tuition hikes.

Klein said during the two years of free bus transportation to Brooklyn, NFA and Brooklyn school officials would evaluate the feasibility of entering into a formal contract as a partner district. If that agreement comes to fruition, Brooklyn would be obligated to pay for transportation as the eight contracted partner districts now do, Klein said.

Brooklyn Superintendent Louise Berry was not available for comment Monday. The town Board of Education is scheduled to discuss the NFA transportation plan at its meeting Wednesday.

NFA officials will hold an informational session Feb. 2 at the Trinity Episcopal Church to explain the transportation plan to Brooklyn families.

c.bessette@theday.com

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