Month: November 2024

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Finding a Faith Based Private School in San Francisco

Your family’s faith is one of the most important foundations of your child’s life. Consider nourishing this aspect of your child’s education at a faith based private school. San Francisco parents have nothing but wonderful things to say about the following institutions for providing a well-rounded curriculum and promoting tolerance, respect, and kindness among their students.

Star of the Sea School

Star of the Sea School is a Catholic preschool and K-8 institution known for their small yet uniquely diverse population of students, athletics department, and after-school enrichment program. Founded by the St. Joseph Sisters of Carondelet in 1909, this charming school hopes to encourage a real love of learning in their students and teach them how to apply their Catholic faith in their everyday lives.

Aside from providing students with a solid academic program, students are given the opportunity to participate in enrichment classes when the bell rings. Musically-inclined kids can take private piano lessons and group guitar, or audition for the Children’s Choir and join rehearsals after school. The school also has several organized sports team, but the sports program also provides golf lessons to interested students. Those who are passionate about science and math have more than just traditional clubs to join; the school has a chess club and a unique after-school class that teaches engineering and math principles using Lego. Budding writers can help write, edit, and publish the school paper with the help of a faculty advisor. And finally, Star of the Sea offers one of few Mandarin and Cantonese K-8 programs in the Archdiocese, as well as Spanish language classes. As part of the school’s commitment to the community, students can also join several outreach programs in the area of their choice.

Zion Lutheran School

A good K-8 school should prepare children for the demands of high school while helping them achieve their fullest potential in extracurricular fields. Zion Lutheran School is one such place you can send your child to. Since 1947, Zion Lutheran School has been providing their young Christian students with an academically-rigorous curriculum and a rich variety of extracurricular activities. This school uses a research-based curriculum called the Core Knowledge Sequence, a powerful program that builds knowledge upon knowledge. Everything a child needs to know about language arts, literature, history, math, science, music, and the visual arts is carefully outlined and taught in an age-appropriate sequence. Class sizes are very limited so that teachers can provide equal attention to all students. With such a strong academic and spiritual foundation, graduates of Zion feel confident about moving on to high school.

But academics are not the only strong suit of Zion; art and athletics makes up a strong part of the school’s curriculum. Students are encouraged to audition for the school’s annual spring musical, and those in 4th to 8th grades are welcome to join the Hand Bell Choir and participate in several performances. Athletic girls and boys are welcome to try out for the basketball team at fifth grade, the volleyball team at 7th grade, or the track team. Other after-school classes include art, cooking, music and chess.

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College Money Nightmare – Best 10 Ways To Avoid Loans

“In the 21 years I have been directly involved with college financial aid, I’ve had hundreds of students and parents ask the same question, ‘How do we pay off all the student loans?’ Unfortunately, there is no easy fix. Having student loan debt is like owing money to the IRS. Once caught in the snare, there is no way out. You simply pay and pay for years. Here are 10 ways to help you avoid student loans.”

1) Start Early

Without question, students should begin taking the SAT or ACT in the 7th or 8th grade along with test prep classes to bolster results. With proper direction, even an average student can score well on national achievement tests. When you do, you’ll secure a place in line for merit scholarships and grants.

2) Free College Credits

Students, sign up for Advanced Placement classes every chance you get. Millions of high school students are taking AP exams at the end of their school year. The reason is simple: hundreds of colleges will grant up to a year’s worth of college credit if you have successfully passed four Advanced Placement tests, earning sophomore status on day one.

3) Test Your Knowledge

Recently a student earned 39 credit units as a freshman by taking several CLEP tests. Go online and learn more about the College-Level Examination Program®, CLEP. You can earn college credits for what you already know. Really. You could start college as a junior.

4) Put Together a Spending Plan

This is the key to college survival. Write down all the funds you have for college and compare that to the costs for tuition, food, movies, housing, transportation, pizza parties, books, and so forth. Then the choice is simple: either manage your money or your money will manage you.

5) Shop Around

Apply to schools where your national test scores, scholastic achievements, and grade point average are well above the freshman average. “The trick is to find a school that considers you a star,” wrote Lucy Lazarony at Bankrate.com. Those schools will find a multitude of grants and scholarships for those they seek. In addition, look for alternative ideas such as distant education classes, a college coop program, a tuition free college, an accelerated degree program, a work-study job, or an athletic, music or talent scholarship.

6) Get Schooling for a Fraction

Attend a local community college before transferring to the “big name” university. You may be able to complete the first two years of a four-year degree at a fraction of the cost. Be sure to check with the college or university where you want to transfer regarding their acceptance of your community college classes.

7) Avoid the Credit Card Trap

College bookstores often have tables set up with credit card applications and free gifts. The free gifts are used as a hook to get you to apply for a credit card. Just say, “No thanks.” Avoid the usual debt problems that lead to more and more student loans. The results could mean that you’ll be back living with your parents again after graduation. What good will scholarships and grants in college do if you walk off campus with huge debt.

8) Consider a Private Institution

Many private institutions have more scholarship monies available with fewer restrictions. Hats off to Princeton and Harvard whose executive boards have chosen to draw upon their endowment funds to help reduce excessive student loan debt.

9) Let Uncle Sam Pick up The Tab

Two, three and four-year ROTC scholarships are available at some of the nation’s finest schools including Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, Virginia, Yale, UCLA, Wheaton, MIT, Cedarville, Grambling, Duke, and many others. If accepted, your tuition, books, and fees are covered plus you’ll earn a monthly stipend to help cover room and board. In addition, high school juniors may be eligible to apply to one of the prestigious military academies.

10) Apply For a Perkins

You may be eligible for the sought-after Federal Perkins service-cancelable loan. Those who qualify may borrow up to $20,000 for undergraduate and $20,000 for graduate school with up to 10 years for repayment at only 5% interest. In most cases, if you enter the field of nursing, teaching, law enforcement or serve in the military, work as a librarian, a speech pathologist, a medical tech, or full time firefighter, 100% of your Perkins Loan plus interest will be cancelled over a period of five years.

By planning ahead, you can achieve graduation success without a millstone of debt strapped around your neck.

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College Education is Overrated – Find Out the Shocking Truth of Today’s College Education

College education is overrated, people feel that you need a college education to be a better person but the truth is you just need it in order to have a job. In order to be something in life you do not need college but you do need to have a purpose and do something.

The way that it works is that pretty much you’re going to college to get good grades in order to get a good job but the one thing that they don’t tell you is that you’re going to graduate into debt from all the loans that you to take in order to go to college. Now that you are in debt you’re going to have to get a job in order to pay the debt.

You do not need a college education but you do need an education in general because you do need to specialize in working in something in order to make a living. But the truth is that college education is the last thing you need because is not something that’s going to help you.

One of the best things to do is to get educated on the Internet and understand that there are many possibilities now for you to actually make an income from home. You do not need to waste time on getting educated in college because it is just going to teach your general knowledge that is useless. When it comes to utilizing education and applying what you learn you’re going to need an Internet education because is the wave of the future.

So if somebody tells you that you need to go to college in order to be a better person in the future you can honestly tell them that you’re wrong because college is overrated and so is the education that they provide.