St. Michael’s School offers educational alternatives

Despite efforts in the current legislature to again limit school choice for families living and paying taxes in school choice towns, there are families and taxpayers who see the benefit of true choice! Following two recent Supreme Court rulings in Montana and Maine, the state of Vermont has moved away from excluding religious schools from public funding simply because of their religious affiliation. This is big news for families in school choice towns. Now they may enroll their child in a private religious school, such as Saint Michael Catholic School, and receive tuition assistance from their town as they would if enrolling at the nearest public or private high school. And the icing on the cake is the benefit to the taxpayers. One school choice parent shares, “I feel good about sending our children to St. Michael’s Catholic School because it actually saves the state and our town money. The average cost for a high school student to attend a public school is between $16,000 up to $18,000 a year. By sending our two children to SMS we are saving them almost $20,000 a year.”

“There is no school quite like SMS in the area. They offer a strong faithful community, small class size and have a classical liberal arts curriculum. The sports program is excellent, and the students are well-behaved! The school’s community service reaches both the local and global community. No matter how far the drive ... We highly recommend Saint Michael School.” Aside from faith, there are many reasons a family might determine Saint Michael School as the ideal learning environment for their child. A more traditional curriculum, a family-centered experience where siblings can all be at the same school, and a virtuous or moral-centered culture are common reasons cited by families. “The school is very inclusive. I can tell my children have already formed lifelong friendships!”

Currently, SMS has 8 students from the tuitioning towns of Wardsboro, Hartland, and Vernon. Those towns pay only half of what they would be paying to a local public school, as the SMS tuition is significantly lower. The school is excited to talk with families eager for alternatives in education for their middle and high school students.