BRIDGING THE GAP
Article photos provided by CatholicPhilly.com
N
ew teachers. New textbooks. And, of course,
new tuition fees. Transitioning to high school
can be challenging — for both students and parents.
That’s one reason why Our Lady of Port Richmond
Regional Catholic School is helping to ease that
burden. The school’s Matching Starter Scholarship
Program awards 10 students with high school tuition
aid that is then matched by the Catholic school each
student chooses to attend.
In the program’s first year, eight graduating Our
Lady of Port Richmond students have accepted the
scholarship for a cumulative total of $58,000 in
tuition aid.
“We wanted to acknowledge the hard work that
families have done to consistently raise funds for the
school,” says Richard Schellinger, Our Lady of Port
Richmond’s business manager. “This program is our
way of expressing our gratitude for their generosity.”
The scholarship awards 10 graduating Our Lady of
Port Richmond students with $2,000 each, to be used
towards their freshman years’ tuitions. That amount
is then being matched by partner AOPS high schools
10
— in some cases, for all four years’ worth of tuition,
plus additional awards.
Parents say the financial support goes a long way.
Albert Brown, whose son James was one of this year’s
recipients, says the program makes Catholic high
school education more accessible.
“This scholarship is huge for
us,” Brown says. “If it weren’t
for programs like this, I don’t
know how I would be able to
pay the full tuition.”
But the scholarship provides more than money.
Organizers say the program is also growing
relationships between Catholic primary and
secondary schools, as well as encouraging students
and families to continue seeking Catholic values in
their high school search.