That is the problem with this site. You can't have an informational converstation without it being confrontational.

True nothing in life is free but those schools have the majority of the students that pay <$2000 to attend private school. (I can type that all out now that I am at a computer.) Many schools include meals, tutoring, athletics. Some schools run from 7am-7pm. (ish) Maybe it is 7:15-6:45, do we really need to argue every single solitary minute detail.

OP, There are at least 7 Catholic schools that give FA to "truly needy children". They feed to private HS's it is a great mission. I am very impressed everytime I encounter one of these children. There was an article in the Gazette about a homeless boy going to college after graduating from Don Bosco.

Go ahead pick the minute details apart but the Catholic schools do a very good job at just this, providing eduction to truly needy children. They also have schools with program dedicated to kids with Special Needs. Bravo!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a link that works.

http://www.catholicacademies.org/

None of those schools are free for 100% of students. They have lower tuition, offer financial aid, and accept vouchers, but they aren't free.

WJA is a flat 300 a year for students. That's not free, but it covers all their meals (including dinner), after care, and their uniforms from the waist up, so my guess is that is no more and in most cases less than the cost of having a middle school student in public since they don't provide dinner as part of FARMS and after care isn't free.

WJA isn't a member of the organization linked above. I agree that WJA and San Miguel are effectively free, but neither is part of the CCA, and neither is an elementary school.

To be clear, I think that WJA, San Miguel, CCA, Center City and Don Bosco are all great things that the archdiocese has done for educating low income kids in DC. That list goes far beyond what the independent schools provide. But the PP that started this tangent stated that there were 5 Catholic elementary schools that offered free education to 100% of their students. I am often in a position to try and help families looking for schools, and so I questioned the statement because I'd love to know if such schools exist.

The only religious elementary school in DC that I know that's free for 100% of students is Bishop Walker.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a link that works.

http://www.catholicacademies.org/

None of those schools are free for 100% of students. They have lower tuition, offer financial aid, and accept vouchers, but they aren't free.

WJA is a flat 300 a year for students. That's not free, but it covers all their meals (including dinner), after care, and their uniforms from the waist up, so my guess is that is no more and in most cases less than the cost of having a middle school student in public since they don't provide dinner as part of FARMS and after care isn't free.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a link that works.

http://www.catholicacademies.org/

None of those schools are free for 100% of students. They have lower tuition, offer financial aid, and accept vouchers, but they aren't free.

+1000. One of those schools is my parish school and tuition is not free. I have nieces/nephews at the school and they all pay tuition. However, the ADW provides financial aid based on income and a lot of the students receive some award. A good number of the students also get free ride through the DC opportunity scholarship program.

Anonymous wrote:I teach many needy students at a Catholic middle school. The independent schools are looking for the perfect student, the one that comes along every few years, well rounded, excellent grades, high test scores, supportive family, some sort of artistic or musical talent, athletic talent a plus. They're not interested in most of the rest, although they give the impression that they are. I have seem dozens of parents fill out applications to these schools. In five years, two have been admitted with some scholarship money.

Is your assertion about parochial and other Catholic schools, or does your assertion about "independent schools" concern those non-public schools that most people think of when they hear the words "independent schools" ? GDS, Norwood, Beauvoir, Maret, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Here is a link that works.

http://www.catholicacademies.org/

None of those schools are free for 100% of students. They have lower tuition, offer financial aid, and accept vouchers, but they aren't free.

Anonymous wrote:I teach many needy students at a Catholic middle school. The independent schools are looking for the perfect student, the one that comes along every few years, well rounded, excellent grades, high test scores, supportive family, some sort of artistic or musical talent, athletic talent a plus. They're not interested in most of the rest, although they give the impression that they are. I have seem dozens of parents fill out applications to these schools. In five years, two have been admitted with some scholarship money.

14:49 here, thank you!

Here is a link that works.

http://www.catholicacademies.org/

I teach many needy students at a Catholic middle school. The independent schools are looking for the perfect student, the one that comes along every few years, well rounded, excellent grades, high test scores, supportive family, some sort of artistic or musical talent, athletic talent a plus. They're not interested in most of the rest, although they give the impression that they are. I have seem dozens of parents fill out applications to these schools. In five years, two have been admitted with some scholarship money.

Here are the others.... http://www.catholicacademies.org.

I was thinking there were 3 but there are 4, plus WJA and San M ..that is 6. DoñB is HS, so did not count that, but that would make 7. Plus all the kids in the other 50+ schools in FA.

That is ADW alone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic schools have 5 elementary schools that are 100% free for all children that attend. They go on to the Catholic high schools, I imagine, on FA.

Which 5 elementary schools?

I'm aware of 2 Catholic schools that have a specific mission to serve low income kids. San Miguel, which is middle school, and only serves boys, which I believe is tuition free, and Don Bosco Christo Rey which is a high school where students work to pay a portion of their tuition, but where families are still asked to pay about $2,500 a year.

There is also the Bishop Walker School, which is an elementary school for low income boys East of the River, and is tuition free, but it is Episcopalian, not Catholic.

Washington Jesuit Academy is also essentially free for the students selected to attend. That's not K-8, but they are really focused on placing the boys into good high schools. I'd assume all of them get significant financial aid in high school.

I'm the PP above. I forgot about WJA! I should add that while I wish there were more options, I think the Catholic church deserves a lot of credit for their commitment to educating kids across the financial spectrum. They take have the 3 schools which are listed here, and support several other schools with low tuition that serve many lower income kids (Sacred Heart being one that comes to mind). They keep their tuitions low, and take vouchers. They also made a number of buildings available to Center City PCS, when they almost certainly could have gotten more money by putting them on the market.

I'm still curious what the top PP was thinking of when they wrote about the 5 elementary schools. It's possible that they were thinking of Center City, but those schools are no longer Catholic. It's also possible that there are schools I don't know about.

To answer the question, yes, our DSs school does give aid to at least a couple of families that are not way too far above the poverty line, as adjusted for the Washington metropolitan area (vs national, or North Dakota). One of the kids is my kid's friend, so yes, I am absolutely certain.

The others I'm pretty sure. I don't ask them, obv., but when tuition is $34,000 a year and the single mother works as a home health aide (DOL: $12 an hr.) and lives in Laurel 25 miles from school, certain conclusions are fair to draw.

I'm glad our school does this, fwiw.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic schools have 5 elementary schools that are 100% free for all children that attend. They go on to the Catholic high schools, I imagine, on FA.

Which 5 elementary schools?

I'm aware of 2 Catholic schools that have a specific mission to serve low income kids. San Miguel, which is middle school, and only serves boys, which I believe is tuition free, and Don Bosco Christo Rey which is a high school where students work to pay a portion of their tuition, but where families are still asked to pay about $2,500 a year.

There is also the Bishop Walker School, which is an elementary school for low income boys East of the River, and is tuition free, but it is Episcopalian, not Catholic.

Washington Jesuit Academy is also essentially free for the students selected to attend. That's not K-8, but they are really focused on placing the boys into good high schools. I'd assume all of them get significant financial aid in high school.

I'm the PP above. I forgot about WJA! I should add that while I wish there were more options, I think the Catholic church deserves a lot of credit for their commitment to educating kids across the financial spectrum. They take have the 3 schools which are listed here, and support several other schools with low tuition that serve many lower income kids (Sacred Heart being one that comes to mind). They keep their tuitions low, and take vouchers. They also made a number of buildings available to Center City PCS, when they almost certainly could have gotten more money by putting them on the market.

I'm still curious what the top PP was thinking of when they wrote about the 5 elementary schools. It's possible that they were thinking of Center City, but those schools are no longer Catholic. It's also possible that there are schools I don't know about.

Pp again - and yes, gate-keeping is a prevalent in top private schools as in top colleges. Which is to say, completely the norm.

It is worth pointing out here that the ones who apply may not receive financial aid, and the well-to-do families claiming to receive aid may be receiving a very small amount...

At least, I fervently hope so!

At my kid's school, I notice that the FA folks generally fall into a few categories...

Kids on FA who enroll in K....
kids who have wealthy grandparents that subsidize the parents.

After K economic situations change...
kids with divorced parents
kids with a deceased parent
parent loses jobl