CSF Elementary School MeetingSeptember 11, 2014

Agenda

• Welcome and Opening Prayer• CSF Update

• Funding Process and Timeline• Scholarship Funding

– FACTS Grant & Aid– Peter Lynch (PL) Scholars

• Other Grants

• Partnerships• Important Dates• Advisory Committee• Red Sox Ticket Raffle

Outcomes

• Sense of who we are and how we operate•Clear sense of calendar, process and

expectations• Feedback on our work and how we can

best serve students and schools• Feedback on alternative meeting space

CSF snapshot•Related entity of Archdiocese • 24 Board members• 7 Full time staff• $8.39mm in budgeted grants for FY15• $63mm endowment• ~1500 donors•Do not claim church status

Learn more about CSF

www.guidestar.org

CSF Mission StatementThe Catholic Schools Foundation changes lives byproviding families with demonstrated financialneed an opportunity to give their sons anddaughters a quality education, focused onChristian values and character formation atCatholic Schools located throughout theArchdiocese of Boston, regardless of race, religion,ethnicity or gender.

Operating Principles

CSF supports the concept of a strong Catholic Schools Office (CSO) with a clear mandate, dedicated resources and adequate authority to rationalize and thereby strengthen the network of schools in the Archdiocese of BostonCSF will significantly focus its allocations in support of this objective and will direct funds away from schools that are not meeting the standards and towards schools that are viable in the long-term

Why are we looking at this?

•Obligation to our mission and donors•Need to be able to tell a story • Impact must be measured• Transparency leads to opportunity•Need to be bold to attract funds

What this means• Funding Guidelines reviewed and

updated regularly • Funding Calendar moved up•Application updated to help make

decisions against standards•Opportunities for investment should

emerge •CSF website now be more useful

General Funding Guidelines• Minimum of 80% of CSF allocation budget should be allotted

for scholarship funds each year• Majority of funding should be directed to students at

elementary school level • Opportunities for internal capacity building and sustainability

outside of CSF should be sought by all grantees• All schools should be able to demonstrate they are meeting

or working towards defined standards of excellence in academics, finances, faith formation and governance.

• Complete guideline on CSF website

Funding Process and Timeline:Scholarship Funding

• Donors are asking more and more questions about the students who receive CSF scholarships:• Ethnicity• Religion• Family income• Academic performance• Where do they go when they graduate

• CSF must continue to answer these questions and track our students• Must rely on data from the financial aid process to do so

Funding Process and Timeline:FACTS Grant & Aid

• CSF currently requires elementary schools that receive funding to use FACTS Grant & Aid, NOT the other way around

• Grant & Aid is SEPARATE from FACTS Tuition Management • All awards for students receiving CSF funds THIS school year

(FY15) must be recorded in FACTS by SEPTEMBER 30

Funding Process and Timeline:FACTS Grant & Aid

• EVERY student receiving CSF dollars MUST APPLY and RE-APPLY EACH YEAR for aid

• Why?• Income can go up or down, even for neediest students• Family situation can change: marriage, job loss or change, etc.• Keeps families accountable• Keeps the process objective for both schools and families

Funding Process and Timeline:Peter Lynch (PL) Scholars

• Established in 2010 to honor Peter Lynch’s 20th anniversary with CSF;• Intended to recognize scholarship recipients in the Catholic elementary

schools CSF funds who represent:• academic achievement• work ethic• care and concern for others in the school community and beyond

• All schools sent list of previous PL Scholars by e-mail last week;• Need to be recorded in FACTS by SEPTEMBER 30;• If any PL Scholars withdrew or no longer qualify for aid, need to complete

Change of Status form

Funding Process and Timeline:2015-16 (FY16)

• For FY16 CSF will guarantee all funding at the same level for students who are scholarship recipients in grades K-7 in FY15, EXCLUDING emergency fund recipients;

• Students must remain enrolled at their current school, re-apply and re-qualify for aid to receive the scholarship;

• If a student withdraws, funding may be reassigned to another student but schools must complete a withdrawal report on the student who left;

• If a student transfers to another Catholic school the scholarship DOES NOT follow him or her to the new school;

• CSF will send letters to the families of these recipients in spring 2015 informing them of this guarantee and expectations

Funding Process and Timeline:2015-16 (FY16)

• All RCAB elementary schools are eligible to apply for additional funding for FY16 in one of the following areas:• to retain current students;• to recruit new students in grades K-8 (pre-school grades K0 and K1 are ineligible);• for both recruitment and retention

• Applications DUE JANUARY 9 must include:• Updated Sustainability Index (SI) and Smart Goals;• Tuition collection rate;• Enrollment information;• Amount requested to retain current students and/or recruit new students with detail

on # of students will impact;• Detailed recruiting plan

Funding Process and Timeline:2015-16 (FY16)

• Applications will be reviewed by the allocations sub-committee with decisions based on the following criteria:• Demonstrated progress on SI/Smart Goals;• Tuition collection rate vs. standard;• Enrollment change;• Clarity of recruiting plan

• Schools will be notified of decisions by FEBRUARY 20• The majority (80%) of guaranteed and additional scholarship funding will

need to be recorded in FACTS by June 30

Other Grants

• CSF Prize Grant: $100,000• Established for FY15 to award non-scholarship funding for

innovation/impact in one of four areas of excellence;

• Schools encouraged to collaborate on application; • Intent is to fund programs that can have a wide impact of innovation

and excellence across Catholic school system

Other Grants

• CSF Prize Grant• 15 applications, all but one from two or more collaborations of

schools • 3 finalists:

– Building Bridges Through STREAM– Lowell Collaborative Campus Ministry– Boston Area Catholic Schools (BACS) Tech Collaborative

• Winner: Building Bridges Through STREAM– Blessed Sacrament, Walpole and Trinity Catholic Academy, Brockton

Other Grants

• CSF Prize Grant: FY16• Applications due MARCH 27;• May be additional, smaller grants in addition to $100,000 grant; • Reviewed by allocations sub-committee APRIL 3-24;• Finalists voted on by full allocations committee MAY 1;• Site visits/interviews MAY 11-22;• Recipients announced JUNE 22

Other Grants

• Summer Technology Academy• Catholic Schools Admissions and Development

Collaboratives (CSAC/CSDC)• Regional Collaboratives

Partnerships

Zoo New England

BSO Youth Concerts

Engineering is Elementary

Important Dates

• September 30: Deadline to Finalize FY15 Awards in FACTS• October 20: Christmas Card Contest Submissions Due• October 21: PL Scholars Mass and Reception• October 28: Student Thank You Letters Mailed• November 13: Governance Series Meeting• November 20: Fall Grant Deposit• January 9: FY16 Scholarship Grant Applications Due• February 20: Schools Notified of Scholarship Grant

Decisions• March 12: Pastor and Principal Reception with CSF

Board• March 27: Summer Tech Academy and Prize Grant

Applications Due

Important Dates

• April 1: Reports on Matching Grants Due• April 15: ICSF Dinner• April 30: Spring Grant Deposit

Schools Notified of Summer Tech Academy Acceptance

• May 11-22: Prize Grant Interviews/Site Visits• June 22: Prize Grant Recipients Announced• June 24-25: Summer Tech Academy• June 30: FY16 FACTS Scholarship Deadline• July 15: Reports on PL Scholars Due

Outcomes

• Sense of who we are and how we operate•Clear sense of calendar, process and

expectations• Feedback on our work and how we can

best serve students and schools• Feedback on alternative meeting space

Outcomes

• Sense of who we are and how we operate•Clear sense of calendar, process and

expectations• Feedback on our work and how we can

best serve students and schools• Feedback on alternative meeting space

Tickets?

• Red Sox Ticket Raffle