| Our two grammar school age children want to go to a | | | | Fortunately there are many scholarships available and |
| highly rated private high school. It should be a parent's | | | | some of them are significant in terms of dollar value. |
| dream to have their young children looking ahead to | | | | Some scholarships are funded by the school which is |
| high school and wanting to attend the best school | | | | to say by the collective annual tuition that is collected |
| around. The problem is the steep cost. I can | | | | or by the school's endowment. They do not reveal the |
| remember, twenty years ago, talking about private | | | | value of the endowment. Other scholarships are |
| colleges and universities where the tuition was less | | | | sponsored by local groups. The academic scholarships |
| than this high school tuition. And we thought those | | | | come with very rigorous standards. Students that do |
| tuitions were outrageous back then. | | | | not live up to the proscribed standards can lose the |
| Thankfully our children have very high grades and are | | | | scholarship. |
| usually at or near the top of their class. They also do | | | | The more accessible scholarships are the ones related |
| well on standardized tests so admissions shouldn't be | | | | to extracurricular activities and sports related |
| a problem. I also understand that there are scholarships | | | | programs. Things like soccer, swimming, cheerleading |
| available for academics but that they are usually | | | | and wrestling have valuable scholarships for kids who |
| minimal. This got me thinking that I needed to know | | | | excel in those areas. Luckily our children are involved |
| more about what types of scholarships are available | | | | with a couple of different sports as well as the drama |
| now while we still have a few years to plan. | | | | club so it looks like those might be good ones for us to |
| I called the guidance counselor's office at the school | | | | aim for. There is a lot to learn about the eligibility and |
| and asked if they could tell me a bit more about the | | | | availability of scholarships so we definitely have our |
| available scholarships at the school. Turns out they | | | | work cut out for us. The good thing is that we started |
| were more than happy to talk to me and were | | | | early and hope to get ahead of the curve in winning |
| pleasantly surprised that a parent would call them | | | | some of these scholarships which will help bring the |
| three years prior to their children's eligibility to enroll. | | | | tuition costs down a bit. |