Financial Assistance

Financial Aid Applications Open on December 1, 2023

While it may seem like we just started the current school year, we in the Finance Office are already looking ahead to next year at BSH. The Financial Aid applications open in FACTS Grant & Aid Assessment for the 2024-2025 school year on December 1, 2023.  Anyone wishing to apply for financial aid for next school year is encouraged to apply ASAP after the application opens. You can apply at any time, however, priority will be given to those applications submitted with all required documentation and with FACTS verification completed by mid to late March. Please note the deadlines below:

December 1, 2023

application opens

February 15, 2024

early verification deadline

Requires 2023 W-2’s & 2022 tax returns (w/ W-2’s if applicable)

March 1, 2024

regular verification deadline

Requires 2023 W-2’s & 2023 tax returns (w/ W-2’s if applicable)

The documentation required is based on the date the application is submitted and not upon when it is completed.  Even if you do not have all information required, submit what you can by these deadlines. If you normally get an extension past April 15, submit your application by 2/15/24 so that you can use your 2022 tax returns instead of waiting for 2023 returns to be completed.

We will not review your application until your student is enrolled in FACTS, you have submitted all required documentation, and FACTS has completed its verification process. Do not delay. The total amount of aid we are able to grant to our families is limited and changes year to year. Prior-year’s aid awards do not reflect a guarantee or suggestion of aid to be offered for subsequent academic years, and there should be no expectation of an amount to be received. Early application and completion of the application with all required documents is encouraged.

If you have additional questions, please contact Mrs. Karen Badman at 804-598-4211 x529 or email at [email protected]

Linked here is a helpful video to walk families through the steps of the financial aid application process.  Financial Assistance Video

 

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The Saint Katharine Drexel Scholarships

This program offers two $7,500 tuition grants each year to BSH students of color in grades 6-12 who show a financial need. Applicants can apply each year for renewed scholarship consideration in the following year. Recipients will be chosen from applicants by the BSH administrators.

Qualifications, Steps and Application Link:

  • Grants will be awarded to two minority students each year: i.e. Black/African American; Hispanic or Latino; Asian or Native American
  • Applicant must be either a current returning or recently accepted student at BSH in the Middle or Upper School
  • Applicant must also apply for BSH financial aid
  • Applicant must complete the Financial Aid application through FACTS and also send an email to the Head of School requesting consideration for this scholarship program.  Both steps must be completed during the open application period
    • Open application period is between January 1—March 1, 2024.

 

About Saint Katharine Drexel/Founder of Blessed Sacrament at Belmead/Advocate for Minority Education Advancement

Saint Katharine Drexel was the second American-born saint canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. After meeting the Pope in Rome at age 28, she took up the veil and became a nun. She was the founder of the religious order of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and most importantly to BSH was the founder of two schools in Powhatan County sponsored by the Order. In 1897, using funds inherited from her father, St. Katharine Drexel founded St. Emma Military Academy, at Belmead in Powhatan County, a military school for young African American men and the first of its kind. In 1899, she founded St. Frances De Sales also on the grounds of Belmead. It was the first school for African American women in Virginia. St. Katherine and her order ultimately established well over a hundred schools around the nation for African American and Native American students. Her schools were established as a countermeasure against segregation, poverty, prejudice and slavery’s other legacies. She died in 1955 at the age of 96 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000. In 1970 the schools she founded at Belmead closed and shortly thereafter Blessed Sacrament School at Belmead opened on the site.

The Blessed Sacrament High School at Belmead and Huguenot Academy in Powhatan merged in 1998 to become Blessed Sacrament Huguenot School on the current site in Powhatan.

Scholarship recipients/parents/guardians will be notified by email within 30 days of the application close date with a call from Head of School.

 


 

Lifeline 6 Knights’ Warrior Scholarships | For Children of Active Duty & Retired Active Duty Military Personnel

BSH is proud to announce the establishment of the Knights’ Warrior Scholarship program, gifted by a retired military donor, which will benefit BSH students who are children of active duty and retired active duty (including medically retired) personnel including: U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel.

A pool of up to $20,000 annually will be distributed to qualified recipients in the form of paid tuition credits. These scholarships will provide tuition grants of $1,000 to $4,000 for each child of a qualifying service member. Scholarship amounts vary depending on the student grade level and are renewable to qualifying applicants for each year of attendance at BSH.

Qualifications, Steps and Application Link:

  • Applicant must be the child of a qualifying service member
  • Applicant must attend BSH during the year the scholarship is applied
  • Applicant must provide proof of active duty or retired active duty within the open application period
    • For active duty personnel: please provide a photocopy of your current active duty military ID card (both sides) and a copy of the orders assigning you to your current duty station. Please scan and email to the Head of School, along with the name of the student applicant.
    • For personnel retired from active duty: please provide a photocopy of your DD214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty). Please scan and email to the Head of School, along with the name of the student applicant.
    • Open application period is between January 1—March 1, 2024.
    • Scholarship recipients/parents/guardians will be notified by email within 60 days of the application close date

 


 

Arabella Stuart Brower Memorial Scholarship

The Arabella Stuart Brower Memorial Scholarship is a fully-funded, permanent endowment that pays two full-tuition scholarships including books and uniforms annually. Established in 2016, the scholarship was initiated in memory of Arabella. Each need-based award is a 4-year scholarship, or until graduation. The only specification is that the recipient be a high school girl. The Head of School along with other faculty members determine the student recipients. (No application required)

The first Arabella Brower Scholarship was awarded in January 2016 to a sophomore. After seeing the impact that initial scholarship had on the recipient and her family, a second scholarship was initiated in 2017.

These scholarships have been awarded to current students and new applications are not being accepted for 2024-2025.

Arabella Stuart Brower Scholarship recipients have gone on to attend:
The University of Alabama
Virginia Commonwealth University
William & Mary

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Spirit of a Knight Scholarships

Two $5,000 scholarships are awarded each year to one girl and one boy high school student who exemplify what it means to be a BSH Knight.  Recipients are chosen by BSH administrators. (No application required)