January 21, 2008   •   VOL. 46, NO. 2   •   Oakland, CA

De La Salle High starts aid program
for students of low-income families
 

Bishop John S. Cummins

By Sharon Abercrombie
Staff writer

De La Salle High School in Concord has established a new scholarship program to assist students from the poorest families in the Oakland Diocese attend the school. The scholarship is named for Bishop Emeritus John S. Cummins in honor of his active support of Catholic education for the poor and marginalized during his 26 years of leadership in the diocese.

“Bishop Cummins embraces our Lasallian tradition of service to the poor through education,” said Mark De Marco, president at De La Salle.

The scholarship will cover tuition as well as fees for athletic programs, spiritual retreats and band, said Heather Pastorini, the school’s director of advancement.

To qualify for a scholarship, the student’s family income cannot exceed 185 percent of the federal poverty level, meaning that a family of four’s annual income must be less than $38,203.

Over the past five years, De La Salle has nearly doubled its budget for financial aid so that tuition costs ($12,000 per year) become less of a limitation to students wanting to attend the school.

Mike DalPoggetto, a science teacher at De La Salle High School, speaks to the assembled student body about his experiences as a veteran of the Vietnam War during a Veteran’s Day observance in the school’s courtyard last November. Six faculty members at the Christian Brothers’ school are veterans. Matt Guarino photo

However, the school wants to further increase its aid program to reach very low-income students, a mission started by St. John Baptist de La Salle, founder of the Christian Brothers in 17th century France, who dreamt of a Catholic education system devoted to children of the poor.

Today, some 70,000 Lasallian educators in almost 1,000 educational institutions throughout the world are carrying out his intention.

De La Salle, an all-boys school affiliated with the Christian Brothers, is in the forefront on the West Coast. Pastorini said the Concord school offers more tuition assistance to needy families than other Lasallian schools in the San Francisco District. For the 2007-2008 school year, De La Salle has awarded more than $1.65 million to families with financial needs, about 25 percent of the school population.

Out of the school’s current 1000 students, 35 qualify for the Bishop Cummins Scholarship, she said.

“Our goal is to admit seven to 10 additional students each year over the next two years.” At that point, the school will reach the goal, mandated by the District, to have five percent of its student body — 52 students — coming from low-income families.

De La Salle estimates that the cost of the Bishop Cummins Scholarship program will total approximately $630,000 for the 2008-09 school year. Half of that amount will be covered through the school’s regular funding sources; the additional $315,000 will need to be raised by June 2008, Pastorini said.

The good news is that $170,000 in donations has already come in from an initial mailing about the program to parents, alums, financial supporters, and local parishes and parochial schools.

“Before we knew it, a small group of them — four donors — had made the decision to either support a student for four years, or else to contribute to a future endowment fund,” said Pastorini. “We are thrilled.”

Pastorini said most of De La Salle’s contributions come from “the grass roots level — people who believe in the value of education.”

The mailing also alerted eighth-grade boys who thought De La Salle was unattainable because of costs to apply for admission. If they demonstrate academic potential, a strong desire to attend the school, and meet the family income criteria, they will qualify for the scholarship, Pastorini said.

“A lot of people assume there are no attainable ways to afford a good Catholic education. We want them to know that we are meeting this need.”

Families wanting scholarship information as well as those wishing to contribute to the fund should contact Pastorini at 925-288-9106.

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