Photos by SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Kindergarten teacher Debbie Samsa helps George Smith at Roanoke Catholic School on Thursday.

Photos by SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Sara Plante teaches a physics course at Roanoke Catholic School on Thursday.

Ray-Eric Correia, the president of Roanoke Catholic School, works out of a cozy office and spends part of his time in friendly banter with his students. But despite those pleasant trappings of his position, he is waging an all-out "affordability war."

His school, like Catholic schools across the country, is increasingly faced with parents who struggle with the tuition, which leads to a decline in enrollment. It's not a new problem, but this year's economic downturn has compounded it, forcing private school administrators to rev up their fundraising.

Although private schools across Roanoke have been affected in some way by the national economy, Roanoke Catholic has been hit particularly hard. That could be because of the school's mission, Correia said.

"It's probably more acute in the Catholic schools because we're looking to have a wide range of socioeconomic families," he said.

Other Roanoke-area private schools say more of their families are having a hard time with tuition as well.

Faith Christian School's enrollment has continued to climb, although at a slower pace, but the school has boosted the amount of its budget dedicated to financial aid. Enrollment is also up slightly at Roanoke Valley Christian Schools, even though the school does not have much financial aid available. And at North Cross School, where enrollment is up almost 5 percent, more students are applying for help.

Roanoke Catholic, which opened in 1889, charges tuition ranging from $5,675 to $7,375 for Catholics and from $7,025 to $8,775 for people of other faiths. That's roughly between $200 and $500 more than the previous year. This school year it also charged an extra $50 per student to offset high energy costs.

Last year's fundraising garnered $645,000. Most of that money was designated for specific purposes, but the school still was able to put about $220,000 toward financial aid.

"There is no down period. It's always full-speed ahead," said Paul Yengst, a Roanoke Catholic School graduate, who serves as the chairman of the school's board.

All told, the school will put about $757,000 into student discounts this year. About four out of five students receive some kind of assistance. Those figures take into account the discounts for Catholic students.

That has not been enough to stem a decline in enrollment. About 509 students are enrolled this year, down from 549 last year, a decline of more than 7 percent. About one-third of the departing students left for financial reasons, Correia said.

"Certainly the school, like any service organization, reflects the economy," Correia said.

The Roanoke school is not alone. Catholic schools across the Diocese of Richmond, which includes almost all of Virginia except for the Northern Virginia suburbs, have suffered, said Annette Parsons, chief education administrator for the diocese. The 25 schools in the diocese are educating about 8,300 students this year, down 300 from last year.

"The number one reason the families leave is the tuition," she said.

Last year, Guardian Angel Academy in Staunton had to close its doors. A school in Petersburg was also threatened with closing, but Pope Benedict XVI's visit to America this year brought renewed attention to Catholic education, which helped save the school, Correia said.

"More schools will close. There's no question about it," said Joseph O'Keefe, dean of the school of education at Boston College who has studied Catholic schools.

The cost of running Catholic schools has increased substantially in the past few decades, and not just because of expensive new technology, he said.

"Fifty years ago, these places were filled with nuns, highly trained women who didn't cost the school very much at all."

At the same time, schools can no longer rely on "bake sales and bingo," and must now turn to sophisticated annual fundraising campaigns with up-to-date auditing systems.

"Generally in philanthropy, donors are much more activist. They want to see where their money's going, particularly, I think, in the wake of the sexual abuse scandals," O'Keefe said.

In Virginia, the Richmond Diocese started the McMahon Parater Foundation to supplement the fundraising efforts of individual schools. The foundation gave out its first $200,000 this year, about $25,000 of which went to Roanoke Catholic students.

But Parsons said there's still about $1.5 million in unmet needs across the diocese "and those families continue to come even though they have to make sacrifices to come."

"If the schools are going to continue to thrive, we have to find the means to help these families financially," she said.

At Roanoke Catholic, that means Correia will have to continue waging his war.