$1.5M GIFT FOR MENAUL SCHOOL
Anonymous note praises ‘ life-changing education to many under-served children’
Anonymous donation will pay for long-overdue renovations and create a lasting endowment for students at ABQ school.
Thank you and God bless is the sentiment at Menaul School in Albuquerque right now thanks to an anonymous donation of $1.5 million this month that will pay for longoverdue renovations and create a lasting endowment for students.
The donors attached this note to the gift: “Given your desire to support excellence in education; it makes sense to support a school that provides wonderful education opportunities for children. Menaul School provides life-changing education to many under-served children and we knew that the school didn’t have the extensive resources necessary to create an operating endowment and implement needed capital improvements.
“We are proud to create this legacy for Menaul School so it can continue its vital mission,” the note concluded.
School officials said the gift will
provide a long-term operation base from which to plan for the future and serve as a catalyst to continue improving the school’s historic campus.
“The generosity of the donors will help move us toward our goal of creating a significant operating endowment for the school that will transform the lives of generations of Menaul School students to come,” said Drew Henry, Menaul School board chair.
The gift, which included a capital matching fund that will provide one-third of the costs of capital improvements, will allow Menaul School to embark on capital improvement projects including:
Remodeling the cafeteria, which provides chef-prepared meals to boarding and day students.
Upgrading Allison Hall, home of middle school science, religion and art classes.
Renovating Hart Cottage, to become home to the school’s new chaplain, the Rev. Takako Terinok.
“This gift will help accelerate our growth and quality of our transformational mission,” said Lindsey Gilbert, head of school for Menaul School.
The 121-year-old faith-based institution is an independent college preparatory day and boarding school for students in grades 6-12.
It has an average class size of 12 students, a graduation rate of 99 percent, with 22 percent of the student body from 12 different countries and with 50 percent of attendees receiving need-based scholarships, according to the school.