Tuition And Fees/Payment Plans

The annual enrollment and tuition fees enable each student to fully participate in all programs offered by Grace Academy, except some field trips and athletic programs.  Each class has a budget for field trips and special projects. An additional athletic fee is charged for each sport.  The student is responsible for providing certain classroom supplies, such as pencils, paper, erasers, etc. A list of required supplies is available each summer in the school office.

Grace Academy seeks to provide excellent classical, Christian education at a minimal cost. It is absolutely necessary that tuition payments be made on schedule. Tuition payments may be paid in one of two methods: 12-month payment plan (May – April through the FACTS Management Company); lump sum payment for the year (due on the first business day of May prior to the school year).

Refunds for temporary illness, vacations, or other temporary absences will not be given.

When a student leaves Grace Academy for any reason, no transcript or report card will be issued until any money due the school is paid in full.

12-Month Payment Plan
Grace Academy offers a monthly payment plan for the convenience of parents. For academic year 2009-2010, the twelve-month plan will run May 2010 – April 2011.  The following procedures will be followed for the 12-month payment plan for academic year 2010-2011:

1. Annual tuition is divided by 12 and one-twelfth of the total is due each month, May through April. Parents of students attending Grace Academy for the first time, who are admitted to the school after May 2010, will have the tuition divided by the months remaining in the payment plan which ends in April 2011.
2. Parents are required to enroll with FACTS Management Company and pay the family’s annual $41.00 enrollment fee to FACTS. Payments will be initiated by FACTS on the 5^th of each month through April 2011.
3. Late payments will be assessed a twenty dollar late payment penalty. Notice of overdue payment will be sent to the parent via FACTS Management Company.
4. If payment of late tuition or other fees is not made or written agreements made with the Headmaster within 30 days of the date due, the Headmaster or his delegate will personally contact the student’s parents or responsible party.
5. Should payment of tuition or other fees still not be received within 45 days of the original due date, a pending expulsion notice will be sent by certified mail to the student’s parents or responsible party.
6. If after all efforts noted above have been exercised and a period of 60 days has elapsed from the original due date without prior payment or written arrangements, the school administration will inform the family that their student(s) is expelled for non-payment of tuition or other fees.

Prepaid Tuition Plan
Parents may also prepay the annual tuition in one lump sum on the first business day of May prior to the school year or within 10 days of enrollment, whichever comes last.  Lump sum prepayments will be granted a 5% discount. In the case of late-August registrants, lump sum payments (with the 5% discount) must be received on or before the first day of school, or the students will not be permitted to attend class until the full amount is paid or a satisfactory written arrangement is made. 

Refunds for Approved Withdrawal from School
Grace Academy commits itself each year to provide high-quality classical, Christian education to its students. This commitment involves financial obligations that last throughout the academic year, such as paying teacher salaries, purchasing books, etc.  Therefore, we take very seriously the commitment of parents to pay the agreed-upon tuition amount for the year, even if the family withdraws from the school. Parents are obligated to pay the full year’s tuition, even if they withdraw their child from the school during the school year. Our Lord commands that we pay our obligations in a faithful and timely manner. He also commands that we practice wisdom in assessing the cost of a tower before beginning the construction of it.

Refunds for tuition may be granted only for the following reasons: Family moves their residence from the Georgetown and surrounding area due to job relocation; loss of job; death, or serious illness/injury which prevents the student from attending school.

Approved refunds will be calculated using 9 as the denominator (9-month school year, September through May) and the number of fully-completed months as the numerator, times the applicable annual tuition rate.  In the case of a lump-sum payment plan refund, the annual tuition rate used will be the gross tuition rate, excluding the 5% discount for lump sum payment.  That is, the 5% discount will be forfeited by the family.  This “used” tuition amount will be compared with the amount paid-to-date by the family.  Any excess amount will be promptly refunded. The family will be obligated to pay to the school any calculated “used” tuition amount in excess of amounts paid-to-date by the family (in the case of the family being behind on payments on a 12-month payment plan at the time of withdrawal).

Returned Check Policy
All checks returned by the bank due to insufficient funds will be assessed a $20 returned check fee. This fee will be added to the monthly billing statement and must be paid promptly. If a family writes two returned checks in a year, they will lose the privilege of paying by check for the remainder of the academic year. In this case, payment must be made in cash or by money order.