Rural Catholic School on verge of closing

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mommyofatribe

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I am not sure where to turn but hoping someone here can be my guiding light. My children attend a very small rural catholic school in michigan on the verge of closing due to lack of funding. We have alot of great family but not alot of money. Many families cannot afford tuition. Any ideas on where to get funding for our school? Public schools scare the bajeebers out of me and frankly I am not sure due to a disabilty if I could home school correctly. My children mean the world to me and I want them desperately to continue their education at the catholic school. If we could get a large grant or donation something that we can survive off of the interest but still be able to offer scholarships would be ideal. I am not sure of my options. We are in the process of starting a sponsor a child for a catholic education program. Any other suggestion ideas info anything will be greatly appreciated. Sorry for rambling just feeling very lost.
 
Sorry I can’t think of where you might go for funding, but I do want you to know that I
will be praying that a solution can be found.
 
Try to find a Catholic businessperson in a neighboring parish (don’t be afraid to cast a pretty wide net). You may get luck and find one with both a philanthropic spirit and an interest in ensuring the continued success of smaller schools and parishes.
 
True Catholic Christian education takes place at home when families live the faith and pass it along through word and deed to their children. I understand your desire to have your children grow up to live the faith; praised be God for your attitude! It is in the home, with loving, sacrificial parents, where such a faith is fostered. Fear not! The Holy Spirit is at work. God loves us. Pray for your children. Walk the walk. Enter through the narrow gate. Repent. Live in the glory of the Lord; He has done it all for us through His torture, death, and resurrection. Trust in Him. Pray to the blessed Mother. All will be well.

You might also want to read an excellent book on Catholic “education”: bridegroompress.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3 “Designed to Fail: Catholic Education in America” is an eye opener, and it reminds us lay people that we are called to be the primary educators of our children.

Peace be with you!
 
I am a public school graduate from the heart of the Bible Belt. My family was Catholic, but we didn’t have a Catholic School nearby. I am now working/living/studying in Louisville, KY, and have a coworker who is in one of the many Catholic Schools in town. From what I get from him, there really isn’t a whole lot of difference. There are positive and negative influences in both schools. Public schools will give your children a chance to experience the real world earlier (our Gov’t is not run by priests, nuns, and brothers) and will help them understand the application of their faith in a secular environment, as long as the emphasis on faith is not removed. This is where the parental duty to teach the faith comes in. I know you said you may not be able to offer homeschooling as an option, but if you can still help maintain faith in the lives of your children and encourage them to read books and learn more than just prayers and bible stories, then I do not think public schools will harm your children in any way

Derwin James
 
Hopefully your school has several fund raisers each year … I will list some that our school uses …

Script … Script sales are selling ‘gift cards’ to various places like Food Markets [Albertsons, Safeway, Thriftway, etc], Restaurants [Applebee’s. McDonalds, Burger King, Red Lobster, etc] or other departemnt stores [Nordstoms, JC Penny’s, etc] and speacialty stores [Hallmark, Starbucks, Movie Tickets, Blockbuster, Car washes etc] … You sell a $20 Starbucks Card for $20 to a parishioner or other person that your school purchased for $19.50 [the school then keeps the $0.50] … it does not cost the person supporting your school anything except the “puchase time” and “planning ahead” … with some grocery stores it is very simple - you can sign the parishioner up with a store card that ties a percentage of their purchases to the school as a donation - its easy and a one time parishioner contact. Some banks will offer similar incentives … as in every time you use te bank’s debit card a percentage or a flat $0.50 will be creditied to the school of your choice.

Jog - a - Thon’s are my favorite fund raiser … the kids do all the work and it has little overhead with the donors able to write off 100% of the pledge…

We have an annual Banquet with Silent Auction and Oral Auction … In addition to the various donated items and [ackages … each class does a project. In our school the kindergarten class makes a quilt and the competition is extreme. This is true of each classes projects - of course the parents also are involved and / all work on te projects… Some projects have included game tables with tiles painted and signed by each student int he class … I was lucky enough to get the class project for my greandson’s 4th grade year - a mirror with a tile designed and signed by each student … the theme "I Treasure … " … it hangs above our fire place …🙂

Our school sells Poinsetta’s and Wreaths at Christmas Time …

A parishioner many years back establish an Endowment Fund for our school. Most [not all] of our fundraiser’s are for the endowment. This money is invested with the earnings used to offset School overhead keeping tuition more affordable and to offer tuition assistance to parishioners based upon finacial need.

For all of you who have a parish school - If you school does not have an Endowment Fund - Start one immediately and then work to make it grow … You can seek donations directly for th endowment …

I remember one year when the priest we had turned 65 - Parishioners wanted to throw him a party - give him gists … He did not feel that was necessary … But people really loved this priest so the occasion of celebrating his birthday became an event to support the Endowment … Parishioners were invited to a dinner the cost was $65 [one dollar per year ;)] with the proceeds going to the Endowment Fund - no one had to go but it was a fun evening …

Adopt a school student, A second collection for tuition assistance …an appeal to School Alumni 👍 … our school recognizes a Destinguished Alumnus each year with a luncheon … if you don’t forget them - they won’t forget you 🙂
 
We do alot of those same fundraisers at our Catholic school - scrip, auction, annual fund - they are alot of work but they do bring in a lot of money.

Are you doing an appeal? That seems like the fastest way to raise funds if you can’t wait. It only requires printed donation forms and addressed envelopes. The more alumni you can get addresses for the better.

We looked on the Archdiocese of Milwaukee website - they have their letters that they used for appeals online so you can get ideas for wording.

Contact your diocese and ask for help in hiring an advancement director. Our diocese closed a lot of Catholic schools (most were within 1/2 mile of each other, but everyone is afraid now) and then obtained a grant to study multi aged classrooms which meant downsizing the schools. In our minds that just meant getting yourself closer to closing. We contacted the diocese and asked for help in the other direction - to help us increase enrollment so as to grow our schools. It’s two steps forward, on step back.

Whenever I feel anxious about kids leaving, heating costs going up, and the uncertainty of the future, I always remember the story of the fishes and the loaves. I hope that if we work really hard and give it our all, that God will turn it into enough.

And as for those who are assuring the OP that public school is just fine and homeschooling is the way to go - I know you mean well. I know a lot of Catholic schools are no different or worse than the public schools. I know homeschooling is wonderful. But believe me - these places we are trying to save are real gems - wonderful places for children to learn and grow in their faith. All my kids - but my oldest son in particular - thrives on learning in a community where his faith is supported and encouraged. We are asking for ways to save these places. We know we might have to live without them but we don’t want to give up just yet. Please don’t act like they don’t matter.
 
Call the Diocese of Wichita, KS. Set up an appointment and send someone to visit them. They have Catholic schools that are supported by stewardship. Learn from a place where it is WORKING.
 
kage_ar said:
Call the Diocese of Wichita, KS. Set up an appointment and send someone to visit them. They have Catholic schools that are supported by stewardship. Learn from a place where it is WORKING.
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Agreed.

Like it or not tution will probably become part of the education process. I know many schools in Topeka charge tution for members of the school’s parish at one rate and then “other” students (outside the parish and other religons) and charged another higher rate. If your public schools are in poor shape you’d be surprised by how many NON-Catholics will want their children to attend and be more than willing to pony up the dollars to do so.

Topeka has a waiting list for non Catholic students and you’d be surprised at what lengths parents will go to try to move up the list. I’m a “nobody” and I’ve had friends from college that I haven’t talked to for years that contact me out of the blue asking if I “know somebody” that can help get their kids into one.
 
kage_ar said:
Call the Diocese of Wichita, KS. Set up an appointment and send someone to visit them. They have Catholic schools that are supported by stewardship. Learn from a place where it is WORKING.
Click to expand...
Yes, I admire the Kansas parishes that practice stewardship and offer every parishioner the opportunity of a catholic education … 👍

I am reminded of a friend of my daughter’s. Her protestant church operates a school. For those who tithe 10% - tuition is zero [or very minimal.

IMHO - I truly believe thatIF* catholics contributed 5% into the collection plate each Sunday*, the amount of money would be phenominal. Parishes would be flourshing, vocations to the pristhppd and religeouslife would increase, catholic schools would be full with very reasonable or free tuition, and our charitable works would be the talk of the nation. As an evangelical witness to the world - this energized faith community would be unmatched …

But we don’t typically come anywhere close to this. We bad mouth our Priests when they speak of the monetary needs of the parish … we want to show up on Sunday and get our card punched, drop a buck or two into the collection plate and leave …

The average Sunday collections outside of true Stewardship parishes is very low … and though we talk about the CEO’s [Christmas- Easter - Obituary folks] - how they come in droves and save three pews not to be seen again until the next "special day’. The truth is that many parishes would never make it through the budget year without the increased collections from these folks. Parishes typically run in the read some time before the Advent Season - go black after Christmas and then run in the red during Lent and go back to the ppositive side after Easter. Parishes really feel that in years like Christmas 2008 where Ice Storms severly impacted the Christmas Masses … Appeals to the regular parishioners to make up the donations from the missed Masses due to inclimate weather cannot make up for the loss of the twice per year folks …
 
This year I was forced to Homeschool my younger children, due to inability to continue paying tuition. I was fearful of my ability to homeschool but Seton Homeschool has put all my fears to rest. The program is affordable, beautifully Catholic, easy to follow and extremely helpful. I am really enjoying the whole experience. I encourage you to explore the possibility. I sympathize with the plight of your School but unfortunately you are not alone in this sad tale of closing of Catholic Schools. My husband and I have spent thousands upon thousands educating our children over the past 20 years and have just reached the point where we can no longer sustain the effort. I am grateful to God for having provided thus far and for the new journey that we are on now.
Perhaps the Bishop has something in the works to help your School. It really is up to him in the end.
 
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