Culture is most of it. That is exactly why retention cannot live in the admissions office.

A family does not decide to leave in April. They decide over months, and the signals show up in a classroom long before they show up on a re-enrollment portal — a child who has stopped being invited to things, a parent whose emails have gone quiet, a sibling who never applied.

So we put retention where the information already is. One school we worked with asks every faculty member for a monthly read on each student: does she build friendships easily, participate in class, seem happy most days, enjoy lunch with others, get respected by others, and is she ever alone. Six questions, once a month. Catholic schools usually learn a family is leaving in April. Teachers know in October.