SSOLE Scholarship Guidelines

Scholarship Guidelines

Application Guidelines and Eligibility

Financial assistance is available on an application basis to students in Kindergarten through 8th grade regardless of race, gender or religion, whose family can show a justifiable need for financial assistance and can demonstrate that their child will benefit from a private or alternative education.

SSOLE’s financial assistance is geared to work in conjunction with the financial aid offered by the school the student wishes to attend. SSOLE accepts applications for financial assistance once a family has submitted an application and been accepted by a school and has completed the financial aid process provided by the school.

SSOLE treats these grants as gifts and does not organize for, or expect repayment. If the family assisted chooses to make a donation to SSOLE, all funds given are directed back to the Educational Foundation.

School Eligibility

Any private or alternative school is eligible for support from SSOLE. During the 2002-2003 school year, SSOLE’s Educational Foundation placed students in the following schools:

The Three Cedars School
The Brightwater School
Seattle Waldorf School
Whidbey Island Waldorf School
Bellevue Christian School

SSOLE does not discriminate based on religion. It is the Educational Foundation’s goal to ensure a student is placed in the school that will benefit them the most. While the schools we have placed students at for the 2002-2003 school year were all Christian based schools, this is not indicative of an ongoing preference.

Application Availability

Applications for assistance are available on the www.ssole.org website, at our Bellevue location, on request via e-mail, fax and phone, and at the development offices of the schools whose students we have assisted. These include:

The Three Cedars School
The Brightwater School
Seattle Waldorf School
Whidbey Island Waldorf School
Bellevue Christian School

The ability to receive aid from our Educational Foundation is also advertised on a monthly basis in the New Times newspaper published in Seattle, on the New Times website, on the SSOLE website, and in the school newsletters of the following schools whose students we have assisted:

The Three Cedars School
The Brightwater School
Seattle Waldorf School
Whidbey Island Waldorf School
Bellevue Christian School

Application Review Procedures

Once an application is received and reviewed by SSOLE a personal interview is scheduled and conducted with the applicant and their family. If it is necessary, SSOLE will also schedule appointments with other individuals involved in the care of the student, including physicians, or social workers. Once the family interview is complete, SSOLE meets with the school and interviews the teacher and staff that will be involved with the student. This interview allows SSOLE to review the environment where the student will be placed, and help to ensure that the student has the best fit possible.

SSOLE reviews the financial information provided by the family to the school, compares it to the application submitted to SSOLE. The foundation is then able to assess the level of need of each family, based on their monthly income and the tuition grant assigned to each family by the school.

Funds Distribution

A determination of funding for each student is made by the SSOLE board of directors based on the financial information provided by the family, the financial aid provided by the school, and the funds SSOLE has available in a given year.

SSOLE requires that each family make a contribution to their student's tuition by making monthly payments to the school, and by taking responsibility for any fees that come in addition to tuition.. In each year a grant of no greater than $10,000 per student is given. SSOLE will not pay 100% of a students tuition in a year, unless there are special circumstances, and the board of directors meets to agree on a full payment.

All grant money is paid directly to the school, based on terms agreed to by the school and SSOLE.

Financial Aid Review

Once a student is placed in a school, it is SSOLE's intent to be able to keep that student in the school of their choice until they reach 12th grade, or for as long as a student continues to thrive in that environment. To that end, SSOLE requires yearly reports from the school on a students success, including grades and socialization, and conducts yearly interviews with the family and student.

If a family, student or school decides that it is no longer appropriate for the student to stay in that environment, SSOLE will work with all parties to find a new place for that student, and to offer financial aid if appropriate or necessary.