Admissions Information

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Please download the ‘Preschool Evaluation Form‘ and have it completed by your child’s preschool teacher.

Tuition and Fees:
2024-2025 TUITION SCHEDULE

Financial Assistance Information: Three types of financial aid are available.

1. School of the Madeleine Financial Aid (up to $3,000 per child)
2. The Pass It On Fund (up to $3,000 per child)
3. Diocese of Oakland’s FACE Fund *or* The Basic Fund (up to $2,500 per child) 

Applying for Financial Aid:

• Apply through FACTS for “Madeleine Financial Aid”, “FACE“, and “Pass it On Fund“. Make sure to indicate each financial aid option that you are applying for in the FACTS application.
• Apply for the BASIC Fund directly through their website

FACTS, the financial service agency, will evaluate each family’s financial need to constitute the eligibility of any financial aid award from FACE, Madeleine Financial Aid, and The Pass It On Fund.   Madeleine Financial Aid is available according to family need and available funds.  FACE and Pass It On Fund eligibility is available to families meeting the 80% HUD income limits for Alameda and Contra Costa County:

Income Limit Category Low (80%) Income Limits:

• 1 Person $80,000
• 2 Person $91,400
• 3 Person $102,880
• 4 Person $114,240
• 5 Person $123,440
• 6 Person $132,560
• 7 Person $141,680

Application Deadlines

• Madeleine Financial Aid and Pass It On Fund application deadline: March 31, 2025.
• FACE application deadline: March 31, 2025.
• BASIC Fund application deadline: March 29, 2025.

What are your class sizes?

Madeleine class range from 25-30 students, and there is one class per grade.  With partner-teachers in grades K-5, the student-to-teacher ratio is under 15-1 throughout most of the day.  Classes are frequently split into smaller groups to support learning.  Our school environment is focused and engaging, with a high degree of personal interaction between teachers and students.

What is the school community like?

The Madeleine school community is welcoming, supportive, nurturing and inclusive. Parents have a strong network with one another as they meet in the morning for morning assembly or pick-up. A number of volunteer activities exist both in the classroom as well as in numerous committees that organize events and raise funds. Parents in individual classes are organized through the room parents and organizations such as the Parents’ Association.

At the Madeleine, students know each other and care for one another. Popular community building programs among the students are “Faith Families” and the “5th grade-kindergarten buddy program”. Older students go on overnight retreats that focus on spiritual and personal development. The students who graduate from the Madeleine are confident and secure individuals who have a strong sense of “belonging” as a result of these programs.

What does it mean to be a Catholic school?

The School of the Madeleine is a Catholic school guided by Christian teaching and a spiritually based education.  The school follows a curriculum that is based in Diocesan standards as well as the California standards and aims to provide a Christian education with a high academic excellence to students of all religious and ethnic backgrounds.

How do you create a positive school environment?

As a Catholic school, our school environment is guided by our moral and ethical framework. Students are encouraged to be “good to one another” and inclusive. They are taught to be responsible and self controlled and to build on our sense of Christian community.  

The school has a counselor onsite who supports children individually as well as within a classroom context. The community relies on a harmonious school environment so conflicts are handled discretely and respectfully but are monitored carefully. Generally, the school has a very hands-on-approach – the adminsitration is very involved with any issues, teachers take time to talk to students and encourage resolution, and parents are informed and included in the discussion of any incidents that affect their child.

How involved is the church? How are religion classes conducted? How are non-Catholics treated?

All children attend “morning prayer” every day – a school-wide assembly intended to come together, reflect on a gospel message, announce special activities for the day or week and begin each morning with a prayer and our school motto of “Let’s be good to one another”. In addition, classes attend Mass weekly and as a whole-school community on special feast days and celebrations.. Religion classes are held for every grade and are age appropriate in the depth of their analysis and understanding. 

Catholic values and beliefs are incorporated throughout the curriculum. Students with other religious beliefs are respected and encouraged to share their thoughts. Non-Catholic students are invited to participate in all religious activities as appropriate. With roughly 25% of the student body being non-Catholic, the school stresses inclusion and respect for all beliefs. The school teaches and celebrates holidays of other traditions and cultures.

What are the academic standards and expectations?

The School of the Madeleine has a high standard of academic excellence and all of its graduates are well prepared for the best public and private high schools in the Bay Area. Students and teachers have developed “Schoolwide Learning Expectations” that describe the goals that our graduates have: to be a spiritually developed individual, a person with self-esteem and resilience, a responsible steward to our society and the environment as well as a life-long learner. With the skills, discipline and confidence that students learn at the Madeleine, they perform well in whatever academic direction they choose in high school.

How is the Kindergarten structured?

Our full-day Kindergarten has a full-time teacher and a full-time aide. Kindergarten starts the day at 8:00am with the rest of the school and ends each day at 2:50. A big part of the program is providing basic understanding of math and literacy in a tangible and hands-on way. Special activities include library, Spanish, music, PE, tech lab, and art. All Kindergarten children have a fifth grade buddy and they participate in Faith Families.

What is the Extended Care Program?

The fee-based on-site Extended Care program is excellent – it offers art, games, outdoor activities and includes snacks. In addition, optional enrichment courses are available, such as Chess, Science Adventures, Cartooning, Tap Dance, Ballet, and more.

As part of ECP, the MAD Band provides weekly music lessons and band rehearsals at the Madeleine. The group rehearsal costs are sponsored by the Parents’ Association. These lessons and rehearsals are coordinated with the school’s after-school care program, making it easier for working parents.

What sports programs are offered?

The Madeleine sports program, which is open to all children, brings the community together and develops children’s sense of team-work and common goals.

Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) sports focus on teamwork, athleticism, skill-building, and good sportsmanship. It includes basketball, volleyball,  track, and cross country. The school participates in an East Bay Parochial Catholic school league. 

What opportunities do parents have to socialize and build community?

The School of the Madeleine provides many communication opportunities between parents, staff, students and all members of the Madeleine community and every family is expected to volunteer at least 25 service hours to the school.