PS-5TH GRADE
Tuition & Financial Aid
Understanding the Independent School Business Model: How Your Support Makes a Difference
Choosing an independent school is both an educational decision and an investment in community. At our school, we work hard to maintain an exceptional academic experience, delivered in an environment where students are known, challenged, and celebrated. But what many families don’t realize right away is how the financial model that makes this possible actually works—and how your support helps sustain it.
Tuition Covers a Lot, But Not Everything
Like most independent schools, our tuition is intentionally set below the actual cost of educating each student. Why? Because we want to keep tuition as accessible as possible to a diverse community of families while still providing the highest standard of education possible. This means there’s a “tuition gap”—the difference between what families pay and what it really costs to run the school each year.
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K-5 Tuition for the 2025-2026 school year is $21,955.
To help make tuition easier to manage, families can choose to pay in two, ten, or twelve monthly installments—whatever works best for your budget. There’s no added fee or penalty for opting for more monthly payments.
Two Campaigns. One Purpose: A Stronger School.
To close this gap and continue investing in our mission, we hold two fundraising campaigns each year:
1. The Annual Fund (Fall)
This is our most essential fundraising campaign. Gifts to the Annual Fund go directly into our operating budget, helping to cover the costs of:
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Salaries for our dedicated faculty and staff
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Continued professional development for teachers
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Classroom materials, extracurricular programs, and essential operating expenses
In short, the Annual Fund helps keep every part of our school running, every single day.
2. The Auction (Spring)
This is both a celebration of our community and an important fundraising event. Proceeds go to support our Financial Aid Program, as well as select targeted projects, additional needs, or enhancements that enrich student life—from new technology to expanded programming or campus improvements.
Why Not Just Raise Tuition?
It’s a fair question—and one we think about all the time. The truth is, if we raised tuition to fully cover every expense, we’d risk putting our program financially out of reach for many families. Instead, by combining tuition and philanthropic support, we create a shared investment model that allows families to give according to their ability and commitment to the school’s mission.
Your Involvement Matters
Whether you give a little or a lot, every gift sends a powerful message: I believe in this school and our shared mission. Our community’s generosity is what allows us to maintain small class sizes, hire and retain incredible teachers, and build a program that supports the whole child.
We know this model isn’t perfect—and we’re committed to being open about that. But it’s a model rooted in community partnership, one that reflects our belief that education is not just a product, but a shared purpose. And with your support, we continue to make this place not just excellent, but truly extraordinary.
Financial Aid
While we strive to keep tuition as accessible as possible through our business and fundraising model, we also recognize that some families need additional support in order to make an Island School education possible. That’s why our Financial Aid program is designed to provide need-based assistance, ensuring our community remains welcoming and diverse.
How It Works
The Island School uses an independent provider, Clarity, to confidentially assess each family’s need based on the information you provide about your income, assets, expenses, and debts. This process allows us to fairly and consistently determine how much aid we can offer, subject to available funds.
Applying for Financial Aid
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Step 1: Create an account on Clarity’s secure platform.
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Step 2: Complete the application (designed to take under 30 minutes on any device) and submit the $65 fee.
After you apply, upload any required tax documents through your Clarity dashboard.
Deadlines for 2025-2026
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Returning families: December 18, 2025
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New families: February 6, 2026