Prep School to Boost Minority Scholarships

In an effort to increase ethnic diversity among students and teachers at Chaminade College Preparatory, the two schools will use an Ahmanson Foundation grant to increase minority scholarships and strengthen faculty development, school officials said Monday.

The grant, given to the schools in two parts, is designed to give deserving students a chance to attend the private Catholic schools which, with their $5,200-a-year tuition, are out of reach to many children.

Candace Wallace, public relations manager for Chaminade, said the schools have been working for the last few years to increase contributions to financial aid programs.

“We have parents who are both working, and often one parent is working two jobs just to be able to send their child to Chaminade,” she said. “When we found out our parents are doing this, we decided to reach out to as many foundations and other organizations as we could find to be able to offer financial aid.”

The first portion of the grant is an ongoing annual gift of $20,000 to boost Chaminade’s scholarship program for poor and minority students. The second part of the award is a one-time grant of an undisclosed sum to provide support for minority faculty salaries and professional development.

Wallace said the campuses are diverse, but the goal was to further attract an ethnic representation of the community.

“We want to offer this education to as many people as we possibly can,” she said. “It’s not fair to have this only for people who can afford to pay the tuition.”

Chaminade is a coeducational college preparatory with a middle school campus in Chatsworth and a high school campus in West Hills, and a student body totaling 1,600.

Of those students, 42 are attending on partial scholarships. The Ahmanson grant, Wallace said, would help increase those numbers.