Anonymous donor gives Eagle Hill School $10 million
Eagle Hill School has received a $10 million gift from a family whose child graduated from the school on Saturday. The gift is the largest, single donation the school has ever received.
HARDWICK - Call this a different kind of graduation gift.
Eagle Hill School has received a $10 million gift from a family whose child graduated from the school on Saturday. The gift is the largest, single donation the school has ever received.
The donation is earmarked for endowment and will be used to increase the school’s financial aid budget. The family has made the gift anonymously. The gift comes on the heels of a $3 million donation made to the school’s endowment by one of its New York City families last fall.
Eagle Hill School Headmaster PJ McDonald said, “The idea that this family stepped forward in such a significant way to make the Eagle Hill experience accessible to families who would not otherwise be able to afford the full tuition comes as no surprise at all. This family represents the very best of humanity."
He added, "What did come as a surprise was the timing of the gift - just hours before graduation ceremonies. The gift is the largest single gift in the school’s history. That was a very pleasant surprise indeed.”
Eagle Hill School, which overlooks the eastern shore of Quabbin Reservoir, has a focus of educating students who are described as learning disabled, or as having attention deficit disorder. Eagle Hill School has Grades 8 through 12 and is a day and boarding school with 225 students from around the world.
“We change the entire trajectory of students’ lives,” said James Richardson, chairman of the Eagle Hill School board of trustees in a news release.
“This level of extreme generosity is simply a reflection of the level of success our students experience in the classroom each day. The educational program that Mr. McDonald and his team have created over the last two decades is absolutely first-class.”
In the last decade, Eagle Hill School has built more than $60 million worth of campus infrastructure, including a $15 million Cultural Center/theater and a 62,000-square-foot sports and fitness center.
The school has been successful in recent fundraising, including $3.6 million raised in a single night at the DCU Center.
“We are trying to build the perfect school,” Mr. McDonald said.
“Our students deserve the very best of everything - the best teachers, the best facilities, the most robust curriculum, the best sports and arts offerings. This level and type of philanthropy allows us to provide that experience for our students, and of course, this gift in particular allows us to do so for a wider population of students.”