Classes ended last week and students at St. Mary's High School should be getting their final report card in the mail any day now.
Good grades or average, more than 100 St. Mary's students would never have been able to finish the spring semester had it not been for the generosity of their neighbors — and arch rivals, athletically speaking — Brophy College Preparatory. More specifically, it was the generosity of the Brophy Community Foundation, the Jesuit school's tuition assistance organization.
The foundation awarded nearly $350,000 in grants this spring to 117 St. Mary’s students. They were strictly need-based.
The grants, ranging from $500 to $5,800, were designated for the current academic year and marked the largest amount ever granted to St. Mary’s High School.
“The news brought great joy to families, many of which were stretched beyond their financial breaking point,” Liz Hansen, director of finance at St. Mary’s, said in a school newsletter.
Some 69 percent of the St. Mary’s student body benefited from financial aid during the 2009-2010 school year totaling more than $2 million.
“Our board was surprised and concerned that the families at St. Mary’s were struggling so much,” said Dawn Kennedy, executive director of the Brophy Community Foundation, said.
Suzanne Fessler, principal at St. Mary’s, said she was grateful for the foundation’s generosity.
“It is during times like this that one really understands and appreciates what a Community of Faith is all about, loving and serving one another, especially in times of great need,” Fessler said.
The Brophy Community Foundation, which awarded $1.9 million in grants this school year, gives 90 percent of its annual revenue to tuition aid at Brophy, private feeder elementary schools and to several schools in Northern Arizona including St. Michael Indian School, St. Anthony and St. Joseph.
