The Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori participates in the Ohio EdChoice Scholarship Program. More information about this program is available here on the Ohio Department of Education Website.

Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori is a provider for the Ohio EdChoice program. There are two ways that a student can qualify for EdChoice. More information can be found here. 

Overview

• Traditional EdChoice: This program started in 2005 and provides a scholarship for K-12 students who reside within the district of a low-performing public school. Qualification is based on the individual school, not the school district. To see if your school districts qualifies click here.
  • This scholarship can be used toward tuition only. The family is then responsible for any remaining tuition above the scholarship and for all school fees. 
  • If the family also qualifies for low income status (at or below 200% poverty level) the family is only responsible for all school fees and not the remaining tuition. Income verification is required.
• EdChoice Expansion: This was an expansion of the Traditional EdChoice system in 2013 and extends the scholarship to families based on income, regardless of the school district of residency. In 2023 this was further expanded to include ALL Ohio families on a prorated basis, based on family income. 
  • This can be used toward tuition only. The family is then responsible for any remaining tuition above the scholarship and for all school fees. If the family qualifies for low income status (at or below 200% poverty level) the family is only responsible for all school fees and not the remaining tuition.  Income verification is required.
  • Families at 450% the poverty level or below qualify for the full scholarship. Families at 451% the poverty level or above quality for a partial scholarship.  Income verification is required.

Scholarship Amounts

For the 2023-2024 school year the EdChoice scholarship amounts are estimated as follows: 

• Traditional EdChoice–$6,165 for grades K-8 
• EdChoice Expansion
  • Full Scholarship (450% or below poverty level)–$6,165 for K-8 
  • Prorated Scholarship (451% and above poverty level)–ranging from $5,200-$650 for K-8 

Application Process

• The student must FIRST be accepted and enrolled in the private school 
• Parents fill out an application form per student and send it to the school office along with a copy of the child’s birth certificate and a recent utility bill as proof of address
• The school uploads these to the EdChoice portal
• ODE (Ohio Department of Education) reviews the application and determines if the student is Eligible or Ineligible. Sometimes this takes time and the application remains Under Review
• ODE determines the student is eligible and awards the scholarship. ODE sends the parent an acceptance letter including the amount of the scholarship
• The parent must sign the acceptance letter and send it to the school office. 
• ODE creates an SSID number for each child. 
• Once the SSID number is created, the school can upload and submit the acceptance letter and the scholarship is approved.

Income Verification Process

• Families applying for Traditional EdChoice DO NOT need to verify income, unless they are applying for low income status. Low income status needs to be verified every year.
• All families applying for EdChoice Expansion MUST verify income in the first year of application. This is not needed in subsequent years for the scholarship to remain at the same level.
• Families applying for low income status of EdChoice Expansion must verify income every year. 
• Income verification is done solely by the family and NOT by the school. 
• The family fills out an income verification form and uploads corresponding documentation in the Income Verification Portal on the ODE website. Parents need to create a OH-ID account with ODE to complete this process.