By Brandon’s mom, Brandee.
My son began to attend a local Catholic school for pre-school when he was three years old. He performed well there academically, and we loved that he was also learning about the Catholic religion and traditions. The school not only taught him his ABS’s and 123’s, he also learned that Jesus died to save us from our sins.
However, it was a huge financial burden to send him to this school. Several family members were having to help us with money each month, which made us feel guilty for borrowing money. The bookkeeper in the school office knew of our financial situation and when Brandon entered kindergarten, she suggested we apply for an Arete Scholarship. When we found out Brandon received a scholarship, we were elated that he would be able to continue at his school.
“It has not only brightened our lives, but also their futures.”
It is truly a blessing that Brandon was able to stay at a school with smaller classes sizes because the teachers are able to easily identify that he needed some extra help on his reading and comprehension skills before his grades suffered. This school has a program established with a local learning agency called A Kid’s Choice that comes to the school to work with the kids that need assistance. Our experience with our school has been so wonderful that of course when our daughter was old enough, we wanted her to also attend the same school. When she entered kindergarten, she too was awarded an Arete Scholarship.
Without the help from the Arete Scholarship, my kids would have to attend the public neighborhood schools, which are underfunded and overcrowded. They also would not get any religious education as part of their daily schedule since most public school systems are pushing to take anything religious out of the schools. To say the Arete Scholarship has blessed our family just doesn’t seem sufficient. We will always be grateful that it allowed our children the opportunity to receive an education that we wouldn’t have been able to give them otherwise. It has not only brightened our lives, but also their futures.
