I’ve written seven posts so far about the need for the county government to fund school vouchers. As the harassment and bigotry within the schools escalates, at the student level and the administration level, my guess is that more and more parents and teachers will exit our heartless public school system—with vouchers or without.
Tuition for private school is a sacrifice, and for some parents that sacrifice is more difficult than for others. One way parents can mitigate that sacrifice is to get scholarship awards for their students. The following organizations provide scholarships for K-12 private schools. Much of the following descriptions are copy-paste from the corresponding web sites. If your student is struggling in our public schools, for whatever reason, explore these resources to get him/her access to a private school.
Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars Foundation (link)
The Cooke Young Scholars Program is a selective five-year, pre-college scholarship for high-performing 7th grade students with financial need.
A Better Chance (link)
For 60 years, A Better Chance has placed high-performing students of color into the nation’s leadership pipeline through increased access to the nation’s top independent and public schools.
Institute for Educational Advancement (link)
We work with children to identify and foster their individual talents and abilities while supporting the holistic development of the whole person in an environment of compassion.
In particular, the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship offers one of the only merit-based, need-blind high school scholarships to highly gifted students across the United States.
Maryland’s school voucher program (link)
This program provides scholarship awards for some students who are eligible for the free or reduced–price school meals program (FARMs) to attend eligible nonpublic schools. (Governor Moore is or already has cut funding to this critical program. Tell Mr. Moore you want the program reinstated and expanded at his contact page.)
Archdiocese of Washington, Catholic Schools (link)
Archdiocese of Washington Catholic schools work hard to keep Catholic education as affordable as possible, and partners with other entities that help families afford a Catholic education.
Grants for Homeschooling (link)
HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) Compassion Grants help homeschool families continue homeschooling through difficult times. Since 1994, we have given over 15,000 grants to families facing natural disasters or struggling through financial hardships.
Onesie-twosie scholarships
Bold.org has a list of high-school scholarships that range from $500 to $48,000 (most of them are in the $500–$1,000 range). There are some benefactors out there who really want to support their affinity. One scholarship is available for students who can’t stop raving about a particular Netflix show! These donors really want to hear from young people who share their own interests, and winning four of those scholarships can get you $2,000. There is absolutely no reason not to submit an application.
If you know of other K-12 scholarship programs, send them to me at mbell@cleanslatemoco.com.
