Starting Fall 2000, 349 children will enter 88 local metropolitan private schools for the second of four years in Baltimore-thanks to the million dollar matching grant received in September 1998. Local foundations and corporations generously matched the one million dollars in order to bring two million dollars to Baltimore children.

Scholarship amounts range from $200 to $1500 (the maximum for K-8th grade). This year, 30 children graduated to high school. The maximum award for high school students is $2300.The average cost of K-8 private school tuition for local participating schools is $2950.00 (excluding the elite prep schools).

CSF Baltimore
Begins Year Two
School Principal
Reports to
Board of Trustees

"We work with each child individually - our staff views our work as a mission rather than a job. We spend as much time as necessary to make sure each child succeeds and feels welcome in our school. We saw so many changes since the beginning of the school year. And the parents are terrific as well. They did what they had to, to help their kids make the transition from public to private school. Eight of our nine students are returning next year."

So reported Marge Potter, principal of Immanuel Lutheran Elementary School on Loch Raven Boulevard. Marge visited with the Board of Trustees on June 27. As our guest, she expressed her thanks for the program and described the CSF Baltimore students who had completed the first of four years in private school. By the end of her visit, I think the entire board was grateful that she had come to deliver such great news. It confirmed that this program is accomplishing what it set out to do - give parents a choice for a quality education for their children and allow children to bloom where they are planted. I am sure that each school administrator has stories to tell. And that is what we are accomplishing here at CSF Baltimore. We are compiling stories of families who are grateful and much happier that their child is attending the school that they have chosen rather than have no choice whatsoever. We invite you to tour any of the schools chosen by CSF Baltimore parents and to speak directly with school administrators, parents, and the kids who attend. And we invite your participation as a donor - 100 % of your gift goes toward scholarships.

There is something inherently democratic about letting parents choose the school their children will attend.

Joseph Viteritti
The Brookings Review

The Optimist Creed