May I Please Ask What Any of You Pay (Per Child) for Parochial Grade School Tuition?

[Kimickey]

DD is in Kindergarten and goes to a Christian School. We pay 11 month tuition. Here's the breakdown

Tuition: $6653.02
Books: $230
Registration: $200

Her tuition will drop once she starts first grade in the fall.

 

[Beauty]

My son goes to a small Christian School.

Tuition is $3200
Building Fund is $400

We pay exactly $300 per month.

We also pay $150 per year in registration/book fees.

Its worth every single penny though.

 

[RUDisney]

I know how you feel about being lambasted at a PTO meeting. Last year, we were told that our school was going to merge with another Catholic school. They kept telling us that nothing was set in stone, but they thought we were stupid and didn't know anyone who worked for the diocese.

So, my kids went to the same school this year, but will transfer closer to our home for next year since I don't like the school that they merged ours into.

When they sent out the tuition information from our current school, in-parish would have continued to be the same... We currently pay $3,000 for the 2 kids. Since we don't belong to that parish, our tuition would have went up to $3,900 per year for the 2 kids. Plus, they said that they were only going to have one fundraiser for the entire year... you could buy out of having to sell raffle tickets based on the lottery drawing by paying $425 up front, or over 10-months, you could sell $500 of tickets per family.

So, instead of that, our tuition for next year will be about $3,200 in our own parish.

Our former school and the new school have been big feeders into the local prep HS. The one that my kids would have been transfered to isn't. That HS, currently, is $6,900 per student. And, to think... my first year there the tuition was $1,100 per year and I had a $900 scholarship.... at that time, my parents had a hard time making those payments.

 

[Niagara2]

WOW - We are really lucky here. We are enrolled in through our parish which also helps kick in money through a network. Our fee's are as follows
1st Child - $1300
2 Children - $2000
3 CHildren -$3000
We pay a $70 registration fee and must do fundraising or pay $600 more per family buyout.

Middle school is an extra $200 per year per child

 

[mom2boys]

We took our boys out of Catholic school last year - last year it was $4700 for both. This year it would have been around $6300
Registration was $250/child (payable each Feb.) Plus fund raisers & always needing more money for this or that.
The only Catholic high school in this county is $10,000 per year - I know a lot of people who make a lot of sacrifices to send their children there. THe thing is, our public schools are very good.

 

[Mishetta]

We pay $2850 in one lump sum. We could pay 1/2 the amount in June & the other 1/2 in December but then they charge you $34 more & I just as soon get rid of that headache! We pay $100 registration fee & so far, no book fee. We also have a mandatory church donation of $800 per year OR your child's tuition will be the non-parish member fee (& I forgot what that was, but it was considerably more.)

I suppose what I should say is that our tuition is $3650.

The classrooms are at capacity. Each class has 30 students with 1 teacher. My DS's buddy goes to public & has 17 students in his class, a teacher & an aide!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

The 2 ds go to a christian school and its like $605 for the both of them. That is including the multi child discount. We dont even have a lunch room or gym. It only goes up to 8th grade. You can ask for financial aid and if you qualify its up to 1/2 off tuition. I am on that review committee. Very detailed questions but confidential, we look at income and expenses and tax return. Oldest 3 rd ds goes to another christian high school. Heard his tuition will be about $6,000 next year. We really couldnt afford it but my mom passed away and she always helped contribute to the boys education and we are using the proceeds from the sale of her house to finance this. Our one school uses the smart tuition payment plan. Its through a company for a $35 yearly fee that is built into the tuition. You can charge it to your credit card which we do for the 2 ds and that helps us get airline miles. Now next year we will only have 1 to do that with for like $4,000. I help out the school whenever I can. We are blessed to have our kids there. The public schools where we live are terrible. Its a suburban area but heard from neighbors there are gangs etc. Its just an unsafe and non condusive learning environment.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by LauraC
We also have an $80 annual book fee for each of them as well.

What a deal! I paid $298 for ds's books this year. The only class more expensive than his was 8th grade.

Our tuition took quite a jump last year. We all received letters in the mail last summer saying that Sunday envelope collection donations were down considerably, and the church couldn't contribute as much to the school...passing the buck to us. (No doubt due to the Catholic church fiasco for donations being down!) Oh, excuse me. Registration fee was NOT $300 for next year, it was $350. An amount I could not cough up and decided...yes, I'm moving to another state! And that registration fee includes nothing! No class fees or anything else. You just fork it over to them.

When I was in a Catholic grade school waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the 1970s, my parents paid $11 tuition a month. Let's see...$11 times 10 months equals $110 a year! $110 vs. $4,100...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[joshsmom]

We pay over 12 months, but it is only $28 a week for a parishioner (which is $1456 per year). I don't know about 2nd child, and beyond. I think the cap is 3 children, then any after that are free. Our book fee is $80. Our school is supported by our parish and a member of each family is required to work either at Bingo or Fish Frys. The Bingo commitment is 3 hours per month. The profit from Bingo enables us to maintain our tuition at a GREAT rate. We haven't had an increase in 9 years!!!!!!!! We did just receive notice that there will be an increase next year of $1 per week. We are so blessed.

 

[zurgswife]

We don't go to Catholic School but my kids attend a private Church school....

This past year it was $3600 per student....X's 4 $14,400....but luckily my older DS has sever Dyslexia and because he needs lots of additional tutoring....I applied for financial aid and got a 25% discount this year....unfortunately (only for my pocket book) DS is doing so much better he won't need to tutoring next year....

and unlike most of you I really don't have a choice we don't have a public school associated with our town....it is a very small church town (about 99% of the people belong to our church). If your kids want to go to public school they have a special agreement with a nearby town and our town has to pay the fees to the other township..So, most people don't do it as the entire tax base increases and the education isn't nearly as good.

 

[Val]

Here in Central Illinois, this is what we paid last year (we have a K, 2nd and 6th grader currently in the school). It will go up by $100 next year. We also pay a $125 registration fee per family per year, and then about $100 in books per year. We also have a "mandatory" contribution of $20/wk in the collection basket (although this IS tax deductable and goes to more than just the school). We have a 20 hour/year mandatory volunteer hour, plus you must work (don't laugh) at least one Bingo night or assist with set up for one month.

Our oldest is a sophomore and chose to go to the public high school. During her frosh year they were building a new Catholic HS and the old building was REALLY bad. She didn't want to move buildings. Also, she plays in orchestra- Catholic HS only currently has band). Given the horrific cutbacks in the public schools, however, the rest will be going on to the Catholic HS. I am also not really happy about the growing gang problem in our local HS.

Preschool $1125.00 per child
Grade K-8 $1675.00 Single Child in school
Grade K-8 $2375.00 for a family with two students
Grade K-8 $2775.00 for a family with three or more students
Non Parishioners $3050.00 per child

 

[Pin Wizard]

We also have "mandatory" volunteer hours. (An oxymoron for sure!) It's 10 hours per family. We single parents want to know if we can get away with 5 hours since we're not a couple. If you don't get all your hours in, we're charged an additional $1,000!

 

[christineann]

$12,800+ per student. Unfortunately, around here the private schools can charge just about anything they want to, and all have lengthy waiting lists. Fortunately for us, the school has a great endowment fund that awards scholarships based on merit and financial need.

They use college textbooks (which I think is a bit much), but it paid off for my son, who was 5 hours short of being a sophomore when he started college because of the courses he exempted through placement exams.

 

[llebrekniT]

My son will be in 7th next year. These are the rates for this past year, I know it is going up a little for next year.

Registration fee $50
Annual fee $150
PreSchool Parishioner $1350
Non-Parishioner $1575
Kindergarten Parishioner $1470
Non-Parishioner $1795
Grade School Parioshioner $1845
Non-Parishioner $2445
Middle School Parishioner $1880
Non-Parishioner $2490
15% discount is given for more than 1 child and 20% is given for more than 2.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Originally posted by Pin Wizard
We also have "mandatory" volunteer hours. (An oxymoron for sure!) It's 10 hours per family. We single parents want to know if we can get away with 5 hours since we're not a couple. If you don't get all your hours in, we're charged an additional $1,000!

Holy cow!!! We have mandatory 30 service hours for two parent families, 15 hours for single parents. Pay off for the hours is $150 and $75.

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughter is in preschool right now (that was 2500.00) and the private school I had looked into here for kindergarten was 7500.00...I think I am going to start her out in public school and see where it goes from there..the private schools here have as many if not more drugs there than the public schools.

 

[Teach]

Personally, I feel Catholic school is worth the cost. A lot of talk has been going on about vouchers to pay for your kids education in private schools. You are paying school taxes and at the same time saving thousands of dollars for your school district while you are paying tuition. The vouchers would let you use the cost of educating your child at whatever school you wanted to. The Catholic schools would come out ahead because they can educate your child for a lot less than what public schools spend to educate a child. Then they can cut your costs, provide more supplies for your children and even pay the teachers a little more than they are getting now. In the long run, even the public schools will get better because of the competition. It's a win, win situation. Push for vouchers!

 

[BHFan25]

We pay a little more than 4000.00 a year. There is a 5% discount if you pay early. You can do 2 seperate payments or pay monthly over 9, 10, or 12 months.
There is NO discount for 2nd, 3rd, or 4th child anymore.
200.00 registration fee.
200.00 materials fee.

We do 3 or 4 fundraisers per year--one of which is Krispy Kreme Donuts! One other is a school coupon book that is super nice.

Our public schools are considered good also. I'm just there for the Christian part of the education. Of course, it the education part at Christian school was not up to par then we'd go elsewhere.
From what I'm told, Teach, vouchers won't help much if the other schools available are good ones.

 

[AspiringCindy]

We just received our bill for next September! $6095 for 2 grammar school kids!...and that is for In-parish!

 

[AspiringCindy]

Are you out of your mind?! Even though I send my children to Catholic school, that is my choice! As a public school teacher, I don't advocate the use of vouchers. That would be a lose lose situation!It would be the breakdown of the whole public education system! Sure catholic schools would get more money from the state, but there are no laws stating that Catholic school teachers need to be certified! I happen to send my children to a school that is extremely competitive...and all the teachers are certified(some even have Masters degrees!
QUOTE]Originally posted by Teach
Personally, I feel Catholic school is worth the cost. A lot of talk has been going on about vouchers to pay for your kids education in private schools. You are paying school taxes and at the same time saving thousands of dollars for your school district while you are paying tuition. The vouchers would let you use the cost of educating your child at whatever school you wanted to. The Catholic schools would come out ahead because they can educate your child for a lot less than what public schools spend to educate a child. Then they can cut your costs, provide more supplies for your children and even pay the teachers a little more than they are getting now. In the long run, even the public schools will get better because of the competition. It's a win, win situation. Push for vouchers! [/QUOTE]