By Gabe’s Mom, Rebecca:
We moved to Oklahoma two years ago after leaving active duty in the Marine Corps. My husband and I are both veterans. Our son, Gabe, had just turned four, and we were more than a little concerned about the quality of education he would receive in the public school system. Oklahoma currently ranks 48th in education. There are plenty of private schools in the area and churches that run preschools, but those were far out of reach with our budget.
We found out about the Opportunity Scholarship Fund (OSF), and started looking at it more seriously when our son, who can already read short sentences, kept asking to go to school. We applied for a local private school, known for excellence in academics and athletics. Once we were accepted, they assisted us in the application process for the OSF. The award amount from OSF would determine whether our son would attend Pre-K. After a couple of nerve-wracking weeks, we found out we were awarded nearly the entire cost of tuition.
It is amazing to see how much Gabe is growing and learning at a school that values and encourages hard work and collaboration between teachers and families. Without the OSF, there is no way we would have been able to provide our son with such a fantastic start to his formal education. I hope it remains available to us until we are able to pay for his schooling ourselves.
“Our ZIP code should not determine the quality of education that Gabriel receives.”
Every family deserves the same opportunity to choose where to send their children to school. Not everyone is blessed to live in an upper class neighborhood where property taxes provide for the latest technology in every classroom, with appropriate teacher-to-student ratios, and well-funded arts and athletic departments. Our ZIP code should not determine the quality of education that Gabriel receives. We are beyond thankful that the Opportunity Scholarship Fund has empowered us to choose a school that best meets Gabe’s needs, and provides him with the best opportunities to develop as a whole person – academically, athletically, emotionally, and spiritually.
