Parents and Students,
We have some exciting news regarding textbooks we’d like to share with you!
Today we are proud to announce that we created a way that meets two important goals – to save you money and to ease the process of purchasing textbooks. Anyone who has been at Paraclete awhile or has sent a child to college knows the tremendous costs of textbooks. As Paraclete is a college prep school, we share those same frustrations. I can remember standing in line outside the Paraclete bookstore paying $450 or $500 per kid for my child’s books.
For the price of $265 per student, the school has purchased all textbooks: eBooks, iBooks, and workbooks, so everyone will have their books for the first day of classes! We are pleased to streamline this entire process for you. There will be no need to purchase from publishers’ websites or try to find licenses or books, or wait in line. eBooks and iBooks will be distributed to the students electronically. Workbooks will be handed to students the first day of classes. Textbooks for AP classes will go out this week! This will allow students to access the material early and get started on their summer coursework. (Students are responsible to provide their own reading material ie. novels for english class)
For your convenience and planning purposes, a $265 book fee will be added to your FACTS account with a September 15th payment date. You can pay earlier by contacting Mrs Enos in the finance office and making other arrangements prior to September 2nd or by paying directly to the office before that date. I appreciate the sacrifices you make to send your child to Paraclete and hope you find this a much easier process for you. Thank you for your commitment to Paraclete High School and the success of your child.
Here is a bit of history for our freshman parents new to Catholic schools:
Textbooks costs
The cost of textbooks have always been borne directly by our parents. Our school, as a private school is self-sufficient. What that mean is, we get no money from the state (until a voucher initiative finally passes), the Archdiocese or local parishes. Any money we raise (and spend) comes from tuition, fundraisers (like bingo, Las Vegas night and the school raffle) or other donation and sources, like the Catholic Education Foundation, our endowment funds and our Annual Appeal. It is also important to remember that because we are a college prep school, most of our textbooks do fall in line with college textbook publishing.
Textbook history
For the first 45 years, the school sold textbooks through the books store. As a parent I remember waiting in the quad in 2 hours lines, hoping to buy used or slightly damaged books trying to save the Anson family money and being happy paying under $450 per child. With the introduction of iPads, we saw a decrease in costs, but an increase in difficulty accessing books. One might have to go to 4 or 5 different publisher’s websites, as well as shop at places like Amazon, to try to find books. Basically each parent had to fend for themselves with each publisher or vendor. As was our goal, we were able to find a way to save you money, but it cost you a lot of time and often, frustration. The effort we have now put into getting you the best textbooks at the best prices will, we feel, pay off in the classroom.
John Anson
Principal