Three primary schools are transferring from Catholic patronage to a multi-denominational model this year.
A fourth school is transferring from its Church of Ireland patron.
In terms of the previously Catholic schools, Scoil an Ghleanna in Ballinskellig, Co Kerry, Tahilla CNS in Co Kerry, and Lecarrow CNS in Co Roscommon will now fall under the patronage of local Education and Training Boards (ETBs).
Kilnamanagh CNS in Co Wexford, meanwhile, is being transferred from the Church of Ireland.
Three other Steiner schools, which were already multi-denominational, have chosen to also become community national schools (CNS).
Finally, three newly-established ETB schools - in Dunshaughlin, Ashbourne and Swords - are also opening, bringing the total number of new community national schools for this year to ten.
Transfer
Scoil an Ghleanna - which has 14 students - is one of the schools transferring patronage this year.
Fr Patsy Lynch, parish priest and the former chairperson of the school's board of management, said the school had been experiencing low numbers and had looked for suggestions on how to address the situation.
He told Newstalk Breakfast: "One of the suggestions put in was perhaps go down that road of patronage under somebody else other than Catholic patronage, because there are some parents maybe who would like to send their children to a school, but they were not interested in sacramental preparations.
"When they explored that road a little bit more, they discovered that in within some of the outlying areas there were some parents who were interested in going down that road."
He added: "We embarked on a listening process during the last few months - consulting the school staff, the parents, prospective parents, the board of management, and the community at large.
"It was very important, the bishop said, that everybody would be consulted and he would respect the wishes of the people.
"There were quite a number of people, on Catholic principles, who wanted a school to remain under the patronage of the bishop - and we respect those as well. But they were all happy to go along with the general consensus."
Meanwhile, Nessa White, General Secretary of Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI), said she's delighted to see the CNS model growing, with 24 of the schools now operating.
She observed: "ETBI and ETBs will work closely with these schools to ensure that reconfiguration is a success for them and for the CNS model.
"I would like to commend the efforts of the local community groups who have often led the way in making these transfers happen. I would also like to sincerely express my gratitude to the current patrons of these schools who fully supported the transfer where there was a demonstrated need for change."
The Government has previously pledged to have more than 400 multi-denominational schools by 2030.
Other organisations such as Educate Together also oversee multi-denominational schools here.
