To become a CSFP partner school, the requirements are:
1. Have a physical building and charge tuition
2. Have a website or full profile with Great Philly Schools
3. Be registered with the Dept. of Education
4. Enroll a minimum of 50 students in K-8th grade (< 50 acceptable for Special Education & PreK-K schools only)
5. Administer an annual standardized test and provide scores to CSFP upon request
6. Provide full day classroom instruction with approved curriculum
7. Be accredited by one of the following Nationally recognized accrediting bodies:
• Middle States Association (MSA)
• PA Association of Independent Schools (PAIS)
• Association of Christian Teachers & Schools (ACTS)
• Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI)
• American Montessori Society (AMS)
• National Association of Private Catholic Schools (NAPCIS)
If your school can meet these requirements, please contact Jacquie Spencer.
CSFP scholarship funds are always paid directly to schools — not to families. Twice a year, at the end of November and end of April, we will send payments after a verification process to verify student attendance and family tuition account status.
Yes. CSFP scholarships are paid to schools based on the amount of time a student has attended the school. In some cases, if a student leaves the school before the end of the semester but after the semester’s check has been issued, the school will need to reimburse CSFP for the amount of the scholarship that was unused. CSFP will make the necessary calculations and contact you about reimbursement.
Tuition and other aid information is submitted directly from the school. This information is completed by a school representative. Errors might occur for the following reasons:
• The person completing the form is not privy to information about family discounts or parishioner vs. non parishioner rates.
• A family may have changed from parishioner to non-parishioner (or vice versa) since the form was completed and their tuition rate has gone up or down.
• A family received other aid for the previous school year and it is assumed they will receive the same aid for the upcoming school year. The person completing the form lists the other aid received in the prior school year based on this assumption.
Yes. If we are informed by the school that a family’s tuition rate has gone up (or down), we will adjust their scholarship amount and pay the difference in the upcoming payment.
Unfortunately, no. We ask existing families in March/ April to renew for the upcoming school year. Their information is due to us in June. Currently we have approximately 5,700 students in our program. Award amounts become available on a rolling basis, beginning in April, based on when families complete registration.
All CSFP Partner Schools receive access to our Civicore database. There, designated school personnel may complete all of our required forms as well as track CSFP families and payments.
Each year, we turn away nearly 8,000 deserving students whose lives could be transformed through education. With your support, we can change that.
English