Dear Friends of Center School,
I hope this letter finds you both safe and healthy as we continue to be confronted by the pandemic and COVID-19. The virus has brought on an unexpected need to alter the way we live day to day and how children are receiving their education.
The Center School has transitioned to a virtual classroom teaching format and has put forth an educational platform that we believe continues to achieve our goal of providing an enhanced learning process for our students. Certainly, at the beginning of 2020, none of us would have expected that we would have experienced this disruption in our daily lives. Our normal school routines and regular activities have been derailed. However, our team of administrative personnel and teachers quickly responded to the need for change and developed a teaching protocol that offers an educational program that continues to focus on the needs of our students.
Like all other schools across the country, we do not know what guidelines and limitations will be imposed on providing education for the 2020-2021 school year, but the Center School is preparing today to offer an educational program, whether on campus or virtual, that will continue to extend a curriculum and teaching format that is appropriate for children who learn differently. We believe that all of our current students would benefit by returning to Center School again next year to reinforce the learning process instilled by our dedicated teachers. As a school, we are taking the steps now to prepare to be there for our returning students to give them the specialized instruction, strategies, and tools necessary to advance their learning.
We understand the pandemic has brought stress to families in many ways, one of which is financial. It is with that in mind that the Board of Trustees, supported with the enthusiasm of the Head of School and Director of Finance and Operations, has unanimously voted to reduce the tuition for the upcoming school year back to the level it was for the 2018-2019 academic year. The Center School tuition for next year will be $34,000 rather than the previously communicated amount of $37,500. The $3,500 reduction is intended to help families more comfortably provide the education that their child will benefit from and is uniquely offered at the Center School. We have elected to extend the tuition reduction because it is our conviction that the education and social interaction children receive at the Center School has a significant impact on developing a confidence in a student’s ability to embrace learning through different techniques and processes.
It is the Board’s goal that our family stays united in the coming year and our team remains intact so that we can continue our journey into the 2020-2021 school year for the benefit of our students.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees of Center School, I wish you the courage, strength and stamina to get through this most difficult time. I thank you for your continued support of Center School.
Sincerely,
James E. Bickley Chairman of the Board of Trustees