School using special rate to give back

A local Catholic school is sacrificing a little tuition for public servants this coming year.

St. Frances Cabrini School is offering a special rate for children of active duty police, firefighters and military personnel for the first time, beginning this fall.

"It's important for us to give back to those who keep us safe and are public servants," said Liz Hines, the school's curriculum coordinator and development director. "For those who have sacrificed so much for us, this is a small way for us to give back."

The special rate of $2,830 a year has existed for Cabrini parishioners and alumni and now is being extended to public servants. That rate stays the same for non-Catholics, who normally pay much more at $4,500 a year. The rate for Catholic families is $3,780 a year.

"We want to try to find ways to make it affordable for everybody, and this is a way to give back to those who put their life on the line," said Sister Nina Vincent, principal of the school.

School officials plan to discuss rates and offer tuition planning for interested families at Cabrini's open house Feb. 2 at 5:30 p.m. There are other opportunities for financial aid, like privately funded scholarships and programs like Ace and Arete Scholars.

"We can give them options," Hines said.

The special rate also serves as a way to reach more students and continue a recent trend of enrollment growth. Cabrini has 225 students, which is a stark increase over last year.

Some of that growth can be attributed to adding students through the Louisiana Scholarship Program, the state's voucher system that allows low-income students zoned for failing schools to attend private schools. But those students reflect only a small percentage, Hines said.

"We have more tuition-paying families than probably the last seven to eight years," she said. "The majority are paying tuition."