You make this possible
Every student who finds their place at Clarebourne does so because someone like you believed in this education and decided to invest in it.
The financial aid program that makes the education we promise accessible to families from every background and income level exists because donors choose to fund it. The faculty development that keeps our teachers at the forefront of their disciplines exists because donors choose to fund it. The programs, the facilities, the margin between an adequate education and an exceptional one — all of it exists thanks to the people who believe in what Clarebourne does and decide, year after year, to help make it happen.
You are one of those people.
Thanks to donors like you, students find their place
“The person who gave to that endowment changed my daughter’s life. ”
Amara arrived at Clarebourne in Grade 5 from a Providence public school. Her mother, a home health aide, had heard about the school from another parent at her daughter’s soccer league. She had always assumed a school like Clarebourne wasn’t for families like theirs. But it was. Thanks to Clarebourne’s financial aid program — funded entirely by donor gifts to the endowment — Amara received an award that made enrollment possible. She graduated last June. She is at Brown in the fall, studying public health.
“This has been the most significant change to his teaching practice in a decade.”
Mr. Brennan has taught mathematics at Clarebourne for twenty years. Last summer, thanks to a grant from the Annual Fund, he spent three weeks at a mathematics education institute in Vermont — the first extended professional development he had been able to access in six years. He came back with a new approach to proof-based reasoning in Grade 7. Forty-two students encountered that change this year. Next year, forty more will.
“I had never sailed before Clarebourne. Now I hope to sail in college.”
The Clarebourne sailing program exists because a donor gave a gift twelve years ago that covered the cost of the partnership with a Newport marina and the first season’s equipment. The donor had sailed as a student and wanted Clarebourne students — all of them, not just the ones who could afford private lessons — to have that experience.
Last spring, a student who had never been on a boat before Grade 5 placed third in the New England Interscholastic Sailing Championship.
Donors may never meet the people whose lives they impact. But their decision — to give, to trust, to invest in something they believed in — made an exception education possible.
How to give
Choose the giving that fits your mission.
The Annual Fund
The Annual Fund is Clarebourne’s most immediate giving vehicle — the fund that closes the gap between what tuition covers and what an exceptional education actually costs.
Thanks to Annual Fund donors, Clarebourne can:
- Send a faculty member to a summer institute that changes how they teach for the next decade.
- Purchase equipment for a program that tuition cannot fully support.
- Provide need-based support for a family facing an unexpected financial hardship mid-year.
- Maintain the facilities, the technology, and the small details of daily school life that make Clarebourne feel like the place it is.
If you want your giving to have immediate, tangible impact on the students currently walking through Clarebourne’s doors, the Annual Fund is where it belongs.
The Financial Aid Endowment
The financial aid endowment is the most direct expression of Clarebourne’s commitment to accessibility. It is the fund that allows Clarebourne to tell a family that cost will not be the reason their child cannot be here.
Currently at $6.8 million, the endowment supports 38% of enrolled families with an average annual award of $11,200. Every dollar added to the endowment generates permanent income that funds need-blind admissions in perpetuity. A gift to the endowment is a gift to students and families who may not even imagine that a Clarebourne education could be within reach. You could be the reason they envision a new possibility.
Planned Giving
Some of the most significant gifts Clarebourne has ever received came from donors who never saw the programs they made possible. They came from people who decided, at some point in their lives, that Clarebourne represented something worth perpetuating — and who included the school in their estate plans.
Planned giving is for people who have thought carefully about their values and who have decided that access to an exceptional education is among those values. These gifts will impact students far into the future.
If you are considering a planned gift to Clarebourne, Philip King would be glad to have that conversation about what matters to you and whether Clarebourne might be a meaningful part of that.
Giving societies
Join the people who make this possible.
Clarebourne recognizes its donors with the knowledge that their giving is doing exactly what they intended. The societies below reflect levels of annual commitment — every level matters.
The Bull Society — Annual gifts of $1,000 and above
Named for Henry Bull, one of Newport’s original settlers and a man who understood that the institutions a community builds are the legacy it leaves. Bull Society donors are the backbone of the Annual Fund — the people whose consistent, reliable giving allows Clarebourne to plan with confidence and act with generosity.
Thanks to Bull Society donors, Clarebourne maintained its full financial aid commitment through two consecutive years of economic uncertainty without reducing a single family’s award.
The Coggeshall Society — Annual gifts of $5,000 and above
Named for John Coggeshall, first president of Rhode Island and a figure who believed that leadership meant building something that outlasted you. Coggeshall Society donors fund the programs, the faculty development, and the institutional initiatives that keep Clarebourne at the forefront of independent school education.
Thanks to a Coggeshall Society donor, Mr. Brennan spent three weeks in Vermont last summer and came back a better teacher. Forty-two students are the reason that matters.
The Ellery Society — Annual gifts of $10,000 and above
Named for William Ellery, Newport-born signer of the Declaration of Independence and a man who believed in the power of individuals to change the world. Ellery Society donors make transformational gifts to the financial aid endowment, to faculty excellence, and to the programs that define Clarebourne.
An Ellery Society gift to the financial aid endowment generates approximately $400 in annual aid income in perpetuity. Over twenty years, that is $8,000 — more than the cost of a full year of Lower School tuition.
The Pell Society — Planned gifts and endowment commitments
Named for Claiborne Pell, a Rhode Island senator whose name is on the federal grant program that opened higher education to millions of Americans, Pell Society honors donors who have made a commitment — through their estate, through an endowed fund, or through a significant endowment gift — to ensure that Clarebourne’s mission continues long after they are gone. Pell Society members meet annually with Thea Francis Green and Philip King for a conversation about the school’s direction, its challenges, and its future.
How your gift is used
Clarebourne’s annual report includes financial statements, endowment performance data, donor participation rates by giving level, and a complete account of how Annual Fund dollars were spent in the preceding year. We publish this because we believe donors who understand exactly what their generosity produces give more consistently, more generously, and with more genuine satisfaction in what they have made possible.
Read our annual report to find our what your gift did last year as you decide on your gift this year. If you want to talk through it with someone, Philip King will make time for that conversation.
→ Download the Annual Report
→ Contact Philip King
“Advancement at Clarebourne is about helping people who already believe in what this place does find the most meaningful way to be part of it.”
Philip King, Director of Advancement
If you have a question about giving to Clarebourne — any question, at any giving level–email Philip King.
Ready to make your impact?
Every gift to Clarebourne — at every level — goes to work immediately for the students who are here now and the students who will be here because you gave. Thank you for believing in what this school does. Thank you for being part of it.
Give to the Annual Fund · Give to the Financial Aid Endowment · Talk to Philip King
We publish our giving totals, our endowment performance, and our program expenditures in our annual report because we believe donors deserve to know exactly what their generosity produces.