The head of Central Catholic High School in Bloomington says they're off to a great start as they seek to raise $10 million.
CCHS President Sean Foster said the school has raised close to $6.2 million of its $10 million goal over the past year through the VISION campaign. He said a lot of support has come from parents and alumni and the school hopes to reach its goal sometime this year.
The campaign is split into four different categories: $3.5 million to grow endowment, $500,000 to expand programs, $3 million to enhance facilities and $3 million to strengthen the school's annual fund.
“We have three main initiatives involved in that,” Foster said. “We want to increase access, we want to inspire excellence, and when we do both of those then we believe we have the opportunity to transform the community, both internally with our students at Central Catholic, but also to play a more meaningful role in the ways that we can interact with groups here in the Bloomington-Normal community.”
Foster said the No. 1 reason why parents often overlook Central Catholic as an option for their children is the cost of tuition. For the 2023-24 school year, tuition is $10,800 for those not affiliated with a partner parish.
“One of the significant areas here is to reduce that friction, to try to meet those families, to close that gap so we can offer more tuition assistance to families in need,” Foster said. “We want to tear that barrier down as much as possible.”
Foster said the tuition assistance will help offset the loss of the state's Invest in Kids scholarship program for private school students. State lawmakers chose not to renew the program last year.
Foster noted Central Catholic used close to $250,000 to offer scholarships to 35 students last year.
“That really did help us increase access over the last several years,” Foster said.
Foster said another campaign mission is to invest more in their teachers and increase their compensation. He said CCHS teachers make about 15% less than their public school counterparts.
“It’s essential that we have the ability to attract, invest in, and retain the teachers that we have because that’s where really everything happens with the students,” Foster said. “The culture of our school, the relationships that are formed, the education formation that happens, it’s all about the relationship between the teacher and student.”
CCHS also is looking to advance programs by adding a learning and behavior specialist and offer more social and emotional support for students.
There are plans to renovate student commons and entrances, too, and install artificial turf on Hundman Field for students involved in lacrosse, football, soccer and track.
CCHS welcomed its largest incoming freshman class in over a decade at nearly 100 students last fall. Foster said CCHS is expecting a similar turnout for the upcoming year based on early enrollment.
“We are continually inspiring to improve, aspiring to have excellence across the board in every facet of our school,” he said. “It’s something we have been working on, it’s something we’re going to continue to work on, to provide our students the best educational experience and opportunities."
