SHREWSBURY – An anonymous donor recently contributed $20,000 to the Shrewsbury Public Schools’ Colonial Fund.
The School Committee unanimously accepted the donation during its Jan. 5 meeting.
“We’re deeply appreciative of the fact that we have such a generous member of the community willing to invest in our students and our staff in this way,” said Superintendent Joseph Sawyer.
According to the district’s website, the Colonial Fund finances “high impact innovations” in Shrewsbury schools, including opportunities that are too costly or arise outside of the district’s budget cycle.
The Colonial Fund has raised over $365,000 for projects since 2012, such as inspirational speakers and renovation of hands-on and STEM learning spaces at the high and middle school.
Sawyer thanked the district’s co-coordinators of development and volunteer activities, Michelle Biscotti and Kathleen Keohane. He said they created a lot of communications to send to the donor list for the Colonial Fund that highlighted projects undertaken using the fund.
“This new gift will help us to continue that work to provide innovative opportunities that may not be covered initially in the budget — sort of seed money — to continue working toward finding ways to support our students,” Sawyer said. “Right now, given everything that’s going on, the more opportunities we have to find ways to support our students and help our staff move things forward, the better.”
School Committee member Lynsey Heffernan echoed Sawyer’s thanks. She said Biscotti and Keohane’s communications have been “impressive” and “paying dividends.”
“While we can’t specifically thank whoever this anonymous person is, I hope they all know how appreciative we are, and the opportunity this allows for us is certainly excellent,” Heffernan said.
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