Six Snohomish County Catholic schools will be among those benefiting from a $7.5 million grant from the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation.
The money is being awarded to the Fulcrum Foundation, which offers tuition assistance and other financial aid to the 68 Catholic schools in Western Washington affiliated with the Archdiocese of Seattle.
“It will really allow us to open the doors of accessibility to these schools,” said Joe Womac, the Catholic foundation’s executive director.
Both charity groups are based in Seattle.
A bulk of the Gates grant, $5 million, will form an endowment expected to yield $250,000 a year in interest earnings. That money will be used to boost Fulcrum’s tuition assistance scholarships, which currently average $550 for about 700 families a year. It would like to double those numbers.
Fulcrum has “a strong track record” that the Gates foundation wants to help push further, Sylvia Mathews, executive director of the Gates group, said in a statement.
Fulcrum will spend much of the remaining $2.5 million on two smaller programs. One plugs budget holes at struggling schools, and the other gives teachers grants for creative programs.
Fulcrum scholarships totaling $10,450 helped 19 students attend Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy High School in Everett this year, principal Kristine Brynildsen-Smith said. Tuition and fees at the 450-student school are about $8,000 a year.
The private school sets aside 7 percent of its tuition income for financial aid. About 21 percent of students receive some sort of aid, ranging from $500 to $7,500.
“But it seems that the need always exceeds what we have,” Brynildsen-Smith said.
Elementary schools that will benefit include Holy Rosary School in Edmonds, Immaculate Conception and St. Mary Magdalen schools in Everett, St. Thomas More School in Lynnwood and St. Pius X School in Mountlake Terrace.
St. Mary Magdalen School has benefited from all three of Fulcrum’s programs. Sister Joanne McCauley said scholarships this year totaled $11,500. When enrollment last year fell below expectations, the foundation chipped in $10,000 to ensure that teachers were paid.
The foundation also awarded a fourth-grade teacher at the school $900 to help start a Spanish language program.
“I think all of us kind of receive a real morale boost” by the help, McCauley said.
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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