We are grateful that you have chosen a Christian school education for your children. At RCS we provide Christian perspective woven throughout our educational program. The Board of Trustees is aware that many great educational program opportunities are available to families in Richmond. We work in tandem with the administration team to ensure that the quality offered by this educational institution is not only found in our curriculum and our course offerings but in our hallways, on our playgrounds and in our community presence.
The cost of operating the school is offset by your tuition, donations and the annual BC government grant. As a Class 1 school we operate within very specific parameters set by the Ministry of Education, which limits how we can spend grant funds. Group 1 schools who maintain their operating costs equal to or less than their local public schools receive 50 per cent of the public school district’s per-student grant. The grant amount is estimated annually by the Ministry of Education and we budget based on that estimation. Sometimes the grant is higher than estimated and other years it has been lower and we have had to accommodate for that shortfall.
We are only allowed to use grant funds for the operation of the school and costs associated with providing our educational program. Grant money cannot be spent on land acquisitions or structural expansions, such as our Phase 2 program, or even for the installation of our playgrounds. These are some of the reasons why we must fund raise over and above tuition.
Our Phase 2 Capital Campaign was started in December 2012 to collect donations for the expansion of our Secondary campus facilities. Funding for facility upgrades and expansion must be raised from our community and through others who believe in the value of a Christian education. Our student population has increased rapidly over the last 6 years and we needed the Phase 2 Building in order to properly accommodate our current secondary students and our middle and elementary families.
We wanted to take this opportunity to thank the RCS families and organizations who have chosen to contribute to our $2 million dollar Phase 2 building project. Your generosity enabled us to proceed with the construction of the new building which in turn provided the much needed space for our faculty and students.
This is also our opportunity to ask others, who have not yet made a decision to support this initiative, to please contribute . To date we have raised just over $ 1,000,000 in donations and pledges. A significant sum still needs to be raised before we close this campaign at the end of this year. We have asked families and individuals throughout this Moving with God campaign to consider how they can contribute and be part of the 100% community participation goal. Your financial gifts help us to provide a “quality, Christ centered education” and we thank you for making RCS a priority in your charitable planning and your prayer life.
Visit www.myrcs.ca and click on the Support RCS link for more information.
Thank you!
From the RCS Board of Trustees