Results of added tuition will be seen in improvements in technology, additional staff members, and campus beautification

Megan Ardovini ‘13 | News Editor

School tuition will go up 6.6 percent, resulting in an added $750 and a total of $12,000 for the next school year. The decision, made by the Board of Directors and Finance Committee, accommodates the various needs of the school and takes into consideration the factors of our strategic initiatives, the economy, and how we compare to other schools in the area.

According to President and CEO Mr. Marco Clark, the school has increased tuition every year since the early 1990’s and individual increases have ranged from as low as 3 percent to as high as 11 percent. In most cases the increase is due to a rise in the cost of household expenses like electric, gas, water as well as the expenses of salaries and health coverage for the school’s employees.

“Our 6.6% increase is a little bigger increase than usual but necessary to accomplish several of the goals we’ve set forth and to meet the needs of rising costs outside of our school,” said Mr. Clark.

The letter sent home to the parents on February 14th addresses plans that are already in place to utilize the money in the coming year for various improvements to the school. Much attention will be given to the technology available throughout our campus, which will be evident through a fully-managed wireless system throughout campus, state-of-the-art presentation-capable projectors and thin clients, and Smart Boards in select classrooms.

Also for next year, there will be a new teacher in the Religion Department to bring down their class sizes to a better manageable size, and another Information Technology teacher to also train faculty to effectively use the new technology that will be available. Currently there are also plans for a new front sign at the entrance of the school, a new scoreboard for Tyoka Jackson Stadium, new weight room equipment, and what Mr. Clark calls a “facelift” in the Fine Arts theater.

John Rookard’13 said both he and his parents understand that it is sometimes necessary to increase the tuition in such a manner even if it can sometimes seem to be a nuisance. “I couldn’t really put a price on McNamara… you can’t really put a price on the atmosphere, the friendly teachers, and the nice people” he said.

Even with the increase, McNamara remains one of the most affordable Catholic High Schools in the area. Of the twenty Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Washington, McNamara had the seventeenth most expensive tuition. Even with the increase, McNamara is only facing the possibility of becoming sixteenth once the last one of the competitor schools releases their information. “Compared to some other schools like DeMatha, which next year will be $13,900 plus book purchase, registration, and fees or St. John’s which is over $16,000 when all factors are considered, we feel that our tuition is still very affordable,” said Mr. Clark.