Barnhart School Offers Unique Community Outreach Scholarships

Barnhart School, a K-8 independent private school that serves Arcadia, Monrovia Pasadena, Sierra Madre, San Gabriel Valley and local Los Angeles County areas, has announced it is now accepting applications for the San Gabriel Valley Scholarship Program in which five “star” or exceptional students will be given the opportunity to win a merit scholarship and attend Barnhart at a greatly reduced tuition – some one even for free.

Nue Yim-Herrera, Admissions & Marketing & Development Director at Barnhart said in an interview, “The process [of application] starts now and will run through early February. The community can now apply now for the San Gabriel Valley Scholarship program.”

Like last year, the program will select five star or exceptional students, who will be awarded merit scholarships as scholars. The final selection scholarship winners will be announced in mid-March, Yim-Herrera said. The scholarship program isprogram is available for to students entering grades five through eight.

In the same interview, Ethan Williamson, Barnhart’s Head of School said that the program is designed for star exceptional students, particularly in the San Gabriel Valley area.

“The motivation and objective of stars the San Gabriel Valley Scholars program is to make sure that we have more mission-appropriate students and make sure that our school is filled with these students from the area. These mission-appropriate students must be dedicated and share the same value of the school,” Williamson said.

Barnhart’s mission is to provide an unexcelled quality education in an atmosphere of respect and love, encouraging independence and responsibility. The school promotes living healthy, physically and emotionally fit lives.

According to Williamson, the scholarship program is also Barnhart’s way to reach out to the community as they shift from simply marketing the school towards making sure that families who might not have even thought of enrolling their children in independent schools as an option, can now be aware that the option is available to them at Barnhart.

He added, “We must teach parents that the opportunity to enroll their children in excellent and academically sound schools is actually not that expensive. And enrolling their children at Barnhart actually comes at a lesser cost not only in the first year, but over time, that they could take advantage of. It’s not just a one-time benefit.”

When asked to comment if the school also benefits from giving back to the community by offering the scholarship program, Williamson answered in the affirmative.

“Actually, the school gets a great deal [with the program]. Some things less obvious and some very much obvious. The San Gabriel Valley Sscholar recipients have agreed to be part of our outreach program and be a part of our outreach efforts,” Williamson said.

Yim-Herrera said that Barnhart has set several criteria for the children to qualify for the scholarship program. While the school emphasizes academics, she said they also want to ensure that the child’s mind, body and spirit are cared for in their environment.

One of the basic criteria is that the applicants must have a minimum of 3.0 GPA (preferably higher) and go through the selection process, which includes a school visit, writing an essay and submitting at least three letters of references recommendation from past teachers, cub scout leaders or others. Finally, the applicant will have to pass anbe interviewed to fully qualify.

“We intend to have admissions personnel from other schools to form our selection committee for these scholarships this year,” Williamson told Pasadena Now.

Yim-Herrera added that Barnhart awarded five scholars last year. Interestingly, she said that one of those who went through the process of selection but was not chosen as a scholar, eventually enrolled in the school because the student and the family came to understand the importance of a Barnhart education. “The family saw the value and they wanted to be enrolled in the school,” she said.

The program attracts a wide selection of interested students. Some of those who apply are into sports, some music; they come from different social backgrounds, or from other private or public schools. This allows the scholars to further enhance the school and the community as well.

“More importantly, we are also interested with what the children bring and how they add to our existing community. We prepare our students to become global citizens. We teach them to be prepared for a global-based economy. Building a diversity of culture and language, ethnic heritage and cultural belief in one school is a very intentional process of the San Gabriel Scholarship Program,” Williamson added.

For more information about this exciting program, call Barnhart School at (626) 446-5588 or visit www.barnhartschool.org.