QUINCY — Enrollment is up slightly for the fourth consecutive year at Quincy's Catholic elementary schools. The total grades K-8 is 1,029 students, an increase of six, which includes 109 new students among all four schools: Blessed Sacrament, St. Dominic, St. Francis and St. Peter.

"This seemed to be the summer for families relocating outside of Quincy," said Paul Rittof, director of marketing and development for Quincy Catholic Elementary Schools and executive director of the QCES Foundation. "Of these 109 new students, 22 students are of faith traditions other than Roman Catholic, bringing the total number of students of other faiths enrolled in the four Catholic elementary schools for the 2015-16 school year to 107 ... slightly more than 10 percent of all students enrolled ... ."

Rittof credits generous tuition assistance of more than $192,000 as another contributing factor in attracting new and retaining currently enrolled families. One hundred thirty eight families with a total of 211 students are receiving assistance, according to Rittof.

Funds for tuition-assistance are budgeted by each parish and added to the dollars generated by the QCES Foundation's annual Friend of Catholic Education Award dinner, the Everybody Wins Mega Raffle, and financial contributions from individual donors.