Derby High School Scholarship Funds

Est. 2014 by the Derby Board of Education for the benefit of Derby High School.

A clear mission for the Derby Public Schools: make a true investment in the children of Derby from pre-school through college by bringing in grant dollars to introduce new resources, and running operations as efficiently as possible. To this end, Derby Public Schools found a solid partner with VCF.

Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Matthew Conway, met with VCF President & CEO, Sharon Closius, to review available options for the long-term investment of Derby High School scholarships and awards. "For years, Derby High School alumni, family and friends have established scholarships to honor those close to the Derby community," Matt said. "They looked to us for guidance to support our students' endeavors over the long term. I discussed with our Board members what would be best for Derby and decided that creating an easy way for people to give to or set up a scholarship fund is what we needed."

Mark Izzo, Derby Public Schools Business Manager, agreed. "From a business and process perspective, partnering with VCF made perfect sense. We were presented with a plan to aggregate our resources and invest them in a way that would be monitored, controlled, and given the opportunity to grow over time." The assets will be professionally invested and managed, which, over time, will make even more dollars available to students, rather than sitting in a savings account or CD. Now, as part of VCF's investment pool, Derby High School's assets will receive oversight of both the school's administration and the VCF Board of Directors.

"This is a win-win relationship where we will be able to benefit Derby High School students pursuing higher education; anyone can now help support our graduating students," Matt said. "With the rising costs of education, we want to be able to do all that we can for our students now and for years to come.

This partnership will allow both Derby Public Schools and VCF to serve as entrusted community stewards with the students' best interests always in mind."

Funds include: