How much is Catholic school tuition?

[aprilfoolwed]

I am a planner. I had a job interview this week, it went well, so my mind is racing about the "what ifs" of getting an offer.

My youngest is off to kindergarten next fall, and public school is only half day. I may not be able to swing that, so looking at other options.

Anyone have a ballpark figure for catholic school tuition (I am in PA if that helps)? Just wanting to see if paying for full-day school works out better than payind for half-day child care....

 

[java]

The website for the church should have that information. Here it is around $5500 a year. *That's the cheaper one. Can go up from there.
Be aware of "hidden fees" in the way of fundraisers, church donations, ect.... Each school is different on how they handle that. My elementary school does a tuition break if you work the bazaar in the summer. If you don't it costs more.

Good luck on the Job! And it'll work out. Does your public school offer a preschool. In ours many of the kindergarteners go to the Preschool for a half day session and then to K for the rest of the day.
There is also Y care for after school hours.

Good thinking to check out your options. As I am looking I also have found it is cheaper for my school age kids to be at a friends house vs. the before school care. There are lots of options out there. Good luck!

 

[Blue Skies]

My DS was in two different Catholic schools (K-5). The tuition was from $3,500-$4,200 (parishioner rate).

We also had a LOT of fees and fundraising commitments (about $400/year).

At one school we paid for after school care which was about $20/day (for 1/2 to 1 hour).

I felt the school cost was reasonable. (Catholic HS around here runs $10,000+). We were happy to make this choice for him. He did well with the smaller school/class size, and the faith component was our number one priority.

The things that bugged me were the nickle and dimeing of fees, and I thought the after school care was way too much for what we got-- but we really didn't have any other options.

Our DS is now in a public charter school that is very much like a private college prep.

 

[Frannie115]

$4,500/yr. - central NC.

 

[dimimi]

I am a planner. I had a job interview this week, it went well, so my mind is racing about the "what ifs" of getting an offer.

My youngest is off to kindergarten next fall, and public school is only half day. I may not be able to swing that, so looking at other options.

Anyone have a ballpark figure for catholic school tuition (I am in PA if that helps)? Just wanting to see if paying for full-day school works out better than payind for half-day child care....

You will need to call the school directly. Here, different schools have different tuition, waiting lists, and other money that they have to pay.

 

[PrncessA]

We had the exact problem at the beginning of this years school year. I recieved a promotion at work and started working over full time hours. DD and DS were enrolled in half-day Preschool and Kindergarten. It was INSANE the amount of money child care services wanted in our area. Around $2000 a month!

Ultimatly we decided to enroll both the kid's in private Christian School. It is a commitment since now that Ethan had a full day of Kindergarten and a MUCH MUCH smaller class size we feel like putting him in 1st grade public school would be holding him back a bit. On many subjects they are on a 1st grade level. On top of that they both recieve a great Christian education, which is priceless.

Here we pay around $944 a month for both kids ( we do recieve a 10% discount for having more than one child enrolled). This is increasing for the next school year and does not include the MANY other fees that come along with being in a private school atmosphere.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

where my child goes to school, it is $2425 + the $250 registration fee along with $125 in other misc. fees such as field trip, technology & athletic.

 

[aprilfoolwed]

Thank you all for the info. I know it will vary, but it's good to have an idea going into things.

After looking at many different options, it may end up to be a better deal for us to move to a new house (where my kids could take a bud to Grandma's after school) rather than pay daycare. Moving was on the list for the next few years anyway, and I would rather sink my money into a house than a daycare. How crazy of a solution would that be???? My older kids would have a really hard time switching schools though (even though it would be in the same district, just to another elementary school).

So much to think about! Maybe I won't even get an offer and I don't have to worry.

 

[MinnieGirl33]

Ballpark for NJ (Philly burbs) elementary school is approx $4000 & high school about $8000.

 

[williamson_ja]

The one where I live is pretty inexpensive as far as private schools go. It's about $3500 for the year. It only goes through 8th grade and there is no catholic high school. We looked into it pretty heavily this year, but I ended up deciding to continue with homeschooling as we have done it for the past 4 years and it has been very successful so far.

 

[Minnesota!]

ODS is in 1st grade at a Catholic school. It is about $4K for the year. Plus $85/week for before/after school care. And about $40/month for the hot lunch program. Plus $ here and $ there for different things.

It's a $750/year discount for each kid after the 1st and free after the 4th kid..

 

[brymolmom]

Not sure what your offer is for - but keep in mind, around here at least - even with full day school - childcare is usually necessary either before school/after or BOTH. You you might end up paying private tuition AND payign for before/after school care.

Our full day Kindy goes from 9:15 til 3:20....Since most full time day positions go from 9:00am to 5:00pm - you would still need before/after care.

I can't imagine that full time private school PLUS before and after school care costs would end up being less than just paying for 1/2 day care. Be sure to look at all your options!

 

[walkdmc]

I'm pretty sure each school is different. I am also in PA, my kids attend Catholic school for about $2500/year/each. We belong to one of the largest churches in PA which means students' education is very heavily subsidized by the church. If you belong to a smaller church, the tuition might be higher.

 

[rynosmom]

Here in Northern NJ its around $5,000 for Catholic Grammer and $10,000+ for High School. It was our choice to have our DS's attend a private HS as the education was far superior to that of our local HS.

 

[gk90]

After looking at many different options, it may end up to be a better deal for us to move to a new house (where my kids could take a bud to Grandma's after school) rather than pay daycare. Moving was on the list for the next few years anyway, and I would rather sink my money into a house than a daycare. How crazy of a solution would that be???? My older kids would have a really hard time switching schools though (even though it would be in the same district, just to another elementary school).

Moving schools can be tough on kids so that's a factor to consider. Also make sure that the bus can really drop your kids off at Grandma's (some districts won't allow this) before you make definite plans based on it.

Good luck! This kind of decision can be really so stressful!

 

[rvchat]

Here in Northern NJ its around $5,000 for Catholic Grammer and $10,000+ for High School. It was our choice to have our DS's attend a private HS as the education was far superior to that of our local HS.

How do you know for sure? I'm comparing Palm beach publics (elementary) to Catholics and I don't know how to do this. Not to metnion, the Catholics don't report scores and etc. ( advice?