Meet Lamar

 Lamar, who loves nature, science, and especially plants, now attends the Preparatory School of D.C. thanks to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.  Lamar’s mom, Tiarra, applied for Lamar to participate in the program in the 2011-12 school year, but Lamar was not yet five years old.  She applied again this year and was excited to learn that Lamar had received a scholarship.  In fact, she was so excited that not only did she attend the School Welcome and Placement Fair to visit some of the private schools participating in the program she volunteered to help set up the fair.  Lamar received his school supplies donated by the Alliance for School Choice and is all ready for his first day of kindergarten thanks to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.

The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program was created in 2004 for children from low-income families living in Washington, D.C. to attend the private school of their parents’ choice.  The program, which was reauthorized in 2011, has a graduate rate of 92 percent—more than 21 percentage points higher than those who were interested in the program, but did not participate.  This year, 229 new students are participating in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.