Tuition & Financial Aid

Financial aid funds are limited. Qualified applicants whose needs cannot be met may be offered a place in the wait pool. The Financial Aid Committee will decide on wait pool awards as funds become available.

Financial aid awards are offered to students who have been accepted to Grades 6-12, and limited financial aid is offered to students accepted to grades K-5, whose families demonstrate financial need.

To assess the level of need, CSN uses a third party assessment service from Ravenna Financial. The family's total income, assets, and special circumstances are taken into consideration.

Continued need must be demonstrated each year through a comprehensive financial aid application. It is the policy of the Financial Aid Committee to maintain individual awards consistently from year to year, always contingent upon documented need and availability of financial aid funds. Students and parents must maintain a positive and constructive relationship with CSN.

All paperwork must be submitted to Ravenna by the deadline (see Required Documents).

CSN encourages applicants to visit the Family Resource Center before beginning a financial aid application.

At Community School of Naples, our primary focus is to provide an exceptional educational experience that nurtures the holistic development of our students. We therefore take pride in our independent school status and the opportunities it allows us to provide a truly exceptional individualized education for each of our CSN students, without having recourse to state-mandated obligations and policies, which may not always be in the best interests of our CSN families and students’ educational potential and which may be modified by the state over time.

As such, we do not participate in Florida or federal grants of any kind. Nor do we accept federal, state or local funding of any kind. We do this in order to maintain the highest levels of independent school performance of any school in the south eastern United States, concentrating solely upon the achievement and potential of each student in our care.

We are, however, proud to continue to offer our long-standing tuition assistance program which helps to support and enrich the lives of many families within our community. Please contact the school to find out details of how Community School of Naples itself may be able to provide a level of financial aid directly to your family, in order to make a place at CSN a reality for your child.

• Mark the appropriate financial aid box on the admissions application.
• Once accepted, submit your enrollment contract marked tuition Plan 3 to Community School of Naples.
• Apply online through Ravenna. The online financial aid application for the upcoming school year is available in December.
• Upload all required documents to your Ravenna account.

Ravenna will make recommendations to CSN regarding the demonstrated need of a family. However, it is a responsibility of the Community School of Naples' Financial Aid Committee to determine the final award. Decisions are influenced by the availability of resources, the number of qualified applicants, and overall budgetary constraints. The demonstrated need of all qualified applicants typically exceeds available financial aid funds in any given year.

It is the parents' responsibility to complete the financial aid application and admissions processes by the given deadlines. The primary responsibility for financing a student's independent school education rests with the family. This noted, the Community School of Naples' financial aid program makes every effort to help as many eligible applicants as possible.

PARENTAL CONTRIBUTION

Circumstances Affecting Parental Contribution

Given limited resources, the following policies are designed to promote the most fair and consistent allocation of available financial aid. Community School of Naples adheres to these policies unless special circumstances arise.

Non-Working Parent

 CSN expects both parents to contribute to tuition. If a parent makes the decision not to work, an annual income may be imputed for a non-working parent if the youngest child in the family is of kindergarten age.

Divorced and Separated Parents

In the case of divorce or separation, both parents are required to file a financial aid application through Ravenna. All current tax returns and supporting documentation are required from both parents.  CSN is not bound by any divorce agreement specifying a parent's responsibility for educational expenses.  CSN will not subsidize a child's education if one of the parents is able, but unwilling, to contribute to their child's tuition.

Community School of Naples strongly discourages this approach. When a family submits a “full-pay” application, this communicates the family will be capable of covering all educational costs for the upcoming year and the foreseeable future. Although some emergency funds are maintained for families who request aid subsequent to admission, those funds are strictly reserved for families who encounter dramatic, unforeseeable financial reversals. Financial aid is for families that have exhausted all other options.

Community School of Naples does not use financial need as a consideration in assessing a student's eligibility for admission. The admission and financial aid processes are separate and distinct. No decisions regarding financial aid are made until the student is accepted.

Community School of Naples safeguards the confidentiality of all financial aid information supplied by applicants and does not publicly identify recipients of financial aid. Similarly, families are asked to safeguard the confidentiality of all financial aid information. Families are informed publicizing an award  in any way is inappropriate, a violation of school policy, and may jeopardize current and future awards.

If you have any questions as you complete your financial aid application, please contact the Ravenna Financial Aid Family Support Center through the chat feature in the Family Portal. Live chat support is available Monday thru Friday from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM ET, while self-service chat support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you have any questions regarding CSN’s financial aid process or policies, please contact Brian McWhirter, Director of Financial Aid, at 239-597-7575 ext. 227, or by email at bmcwhirter@communityschoolnaples.org.