St. Francis is the beneficiary of many generous gifts and grants from local and national foundations. The following are Foundations that have supported the school in recent years:
The Edward E. Ford Foundation was founded by Edward E. Ford in 1957. “The major objective of the Foundation shall be to encourage and improve secondary education as provided by independent schools in the United States.”Over the years, the Foundation has made many grants in support of education in independent schools. Today, the foundation most often requires at minimum a 2:1 match of any grant. St. Francis High School first received a grant of $25,000 in 1984 to establish a Faculty Professional Development Endowment Fund. In 2002, The E.E. Ford Foundation granted $28,200 towards building a faculty compensation plan to help ensure faculty compensation remained competitive with other schools in the region. The two most recent Edward E. Ford grants have supported scholarships at St. Francis. In 2005, the Foundation made a $50,000 scholarship endowment grant, which required a 2:1 endowment match. In addition, the Edward E. Ford again recognized our dedication to making a St. Francis education accessible to disadvantaged youth by committing $50,000 over three years in operating funds for a Youth Alive! Scholarship in November of 2008. Again, however, we must raise $100,000 in endowment funds in order to receive this grant.
The William E. Barth Foundation is a Louisville based, private foundation. The foundation was established in 1994 by sisters, Mrs. Louise Barth Laffan and Mrs. Dorothy Barth Jockell in honor of their brother William E. Barth who had passed away. The grants given by the foundation are restricted to Louisville-based charities. The Barth Foundation has been a supporter of St. Francis High School's New American Scholarship Fund since 2003 with gifts ranging from $3000 to $7000.
The Margaret Hall Foundation was established in 1980 to help fund innovative programs in secondary education for Independent Schools. The foundation is located in Lexington, Ky. The Margaret Hall Foundation has made numerous grants to St. Francis High School since that time. St. Francis High School received the Helen R. Burg Merit Award from the foundation in 2009 for the grant proposal that exhibited the most creativity and educational value. The gift of $10,000 was given to the school in order to update our computer lab, and segregate its use for academic purposes only. It also allowed for the creation of an “internet café” in our Atrium Commons that will allow students to use computers for recreational purposes, such as games and social networking. The addition of sixteen new computers will substantially improve our students’ access to technology.
