Dear O’Dowd Families,

Our Board of Regents recently approved our annual budget, including tuition for the 2023-2024 school year. As always, we have developed a budget that first and foremost continues to provide an exceptional Catholic college-prep education to our students. Over a thoughtful year-long engagement between our Chief Financial Officer, the Finance Committee, and our full Board, we have ensured that our current students will benefit from the holistic, whole child curriculum for which O’Dowd is known. With rich opportunities for academic rigor, faith formation, and community building, our 2023-2024 budget will empower all Dragons to grow academically, emotionally, and spiritually, and to use their learning as a gift to the world.

Our tuition for the 2023-2024 academic school year will be $24,040, an increase of 5.6%. For new families, registration fees will be $1,100, for a total of $25,140. For returning families, registration fees will remain $900, for a total of $24,940.

O’Dowd is in the middle of a significant three-year commitment to increase teacher compensation. Our exceptional educators make learning come alive for students - they are the lifeblood of our school. In order to remain competitive in attracting and retaining our talented faculty, we are investing in a significant salary increase that values their subject-matter expertise and achieves parity with other high-performing Catholic schools in the East Bay.

In addition to supporting our teachers and the profound learning experiences they create for students in our classrooms, we are also investing in further strengthening our student and family supports. Our administrative team is dedicated to ensuring that our academic and co-curricular programs respond to the immediate needs of families. We have launched efforts to further uplevel instructional quality across our institution. We invest deeply in a multi-layered system of support to guide our students through their entire social, emotional, and academic journey at O’Dowd. In listening closely to families, we will continue to create a unique and culturally responsive learning community that empowers students to be part of transforming our world.

Finally, O’Dowd remains committed to accessibility. Our tuition covers roughly 87% of our expenses, with the generous philanthropy of our current families, alumni, and friends of O’Dowd fulfilling the remaining operating budget. We do this because we are dedicated to ensuring that O’Dowd is affordable to as many families as possible. Paired with tuition assistance, which provides a financial bridge for 30% of our students, we remain steadfast in making O’Dowd a place of belonging for every family.

Thank you for being part of our Dragon community.

You have our best,

J. D. Childs

President, Bishop O’Dowd High School