On January 28, Washington Christian Academy in Olney, Maryland, offered a virtual workshop titled “Affording a Christian Education.” The workshop focused on the value of a quality Christian education for children and the ways that families can budget for tuition and apply for tuition assistance. “Our experience has been that there is a group of folks that don't even consider Christian education when they see the tuition amount,” said David Hawes, the school’s director of operations. “They may think about tuition assistance in the same way they think about food stamps and don't put themselves in the financially needy category.”
Hawes led the workshop twice during the day; the content focused on answering the questions of fictionalized parents who are interested in a quality Christian education. A total of 43 people registered for the workshops and 24 people attended. The workshop is also available online.
“We wanted to remind folks that if they don't even try, they never know what might have happened,” said Hawes (pictured at right). “We've had many families not think that it will work out, but it does.” Economic diversity is a priority for the school, and more than 50 percent of families attending Washington Christian Academy receive some sort of tuition assistance.
Washington Christian plans to host more virtual workshops in the future on topics of interest to prospective parents. Ideally, the workshops will answer prospective families’ questions to the point that they will visit the school, leading to one-on-one conversation on the value and affordability of a Christian education.
“Virtual open houses and webinars like this one allow us to reach more prospects earlier in the process,” said Ralph Cochran, who assisted the school in putting together the event. Cochran represents Schola Inbound Marketing.