The Black Student Fund and Latino Student Fund's School Fair

The Black Student Funds commitment to bringing independent schools and black families together led to the creation of the Annual School Fair in 1972. The Fair quickly became an effective student venue and continues to be one of the largest school fairs of its kind in the region.For forty years, the Black Student Funds Annual School Fair has provided a networking opportunity for thousands of families in the metropolitan area to meet with representatives from more than sixty independent schools. Parents and prospective students get first-hand knowledge about each schools programs, community, admissions requirements and financial aid process. In addition, the fair features interactive seminars focused on the admissions process, the financial aid process and personal/family financial management. Since 2009, the Latino Student Fund has collaborated with BSF on the event in an effort to increase Hispanic student enrollment at local independent schools. The fair, one of the oldest in the region, is held at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center each fall and attendance averages 4,500 people. The BSF School Fair makes it possible to reach black children from low-income families and connect them to independent schools in the greater community. Representatives from BSF Member Schools and regional as well as out of the area boarding schools provide families seeking options in education with a wealth of information from more than 50 schools.The Fair offers parents of pre-K through 12th grade students an opportunity to learn about private school admissions,financial aid, grants, testing, and curriculum, directly from independent schools throughout the Washington metropolitan area as well as out of area boarding schools. Dozens of school representatives will be there to answer any questions first hand. Held during the Fall season at the D. C. Convention Center, Annual attendance at this event averages 4,000 to 5,000 parents of students who are enrolled, or interested in enrolling in, private-independent schools, both day and boarding. BSF is a 501c3 not for profit organization that recruits, refers and assists minority children in attending independent schools and has been doing so since 1964.