Endowment & Special Gifts

The Burroughs endowment was established in the 1970s. Investment income from our endowment is the largest source of school revenue after tuition and Annual Giving. Devoted and generous alumni, parents, and friends have established endowed funds to provide a permanent income to Burroughs. These donors sustain the Burroughs experience through gifts that last forever. Under professional management, these funds support immediate and long-term goals. As of June 30, 2021, the market value of the school's endowment and other managed funds was $62 million.

A gift of endowment ensures that Burroughs has the resources required for a second century of service and learning. As we prepare for the school’s Centennial in 2023, one of our major strategic goals is to substantially grow the endowment to control tuition increases, support our enduring commitment to tuition aid, and ensure staff salaries and professional development are competitive. As a donor of endowed funds, you:

Provide a permanent place for your extended family to direct their gifts to Burroughs.
Celebrate your family, a loved one, or a favorite faculty member by naming your fund.
Secure permanent funding for Burroughs because the principal of your endowed fund is invested and untouched in perpetuity. Your gift lasts forever.
Connect with the beneficiaries of your generosity through personalized reports that will give you the satisfaction of knowing how your funds impact the school.
Consider a bequest to the Burroughs endowment to support what matters most to you.

Endowing Scholarship & Tuition Assistance

For Burroughs to maintain the school’s enduring commitment to inclusion and educational equity, the endowment must be large enough to reduce the school’s dependence on tuition income which currently provides more than 80% of the school’s annual revenue.

The amount required to establish a named scholarship fluctuates each year as tuition costs change. Each year, donors and their designees receive notification of their beneficiary, including information about the student’s background, academic success, etc. Lifelong relationships often develop between donor and beneficiary. For the 2022-23 school year, approximately 25% of students receive scholarship support, including children of faculty and staff.

To sustain the Burroughs tradition of excellence, the school must provide the resources necessary to attract and educate the most talented students in the St. Louis area, regardless of their families’ ability to pay. You can make an impact on the tuition aid program at Burroughs by creating a restricted fund for a scholarship or tuition aid. Named endowed scholarships provide the equivalent of full tuition for one student in perpetuity. Quarter and half scholarships can also be endowed.

Endowing the Academic Program & Faculty

Burroughs’ core curriculum is grounded in the arts, athletics, global studies, humanities, service, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Donors can endow virtually any aspect of the academic program, including:

Burroughs is a very attractive place for teaching and administrative talent; however, the competition for professionals requires Burroughs to be in a position to increase its investment in salaries and training.

Endowing the Campus

In 1923, the Burroughs campus was comprised of less than 20 acres. Today, the campus is nearly 50 acres. Changes to the Burroughs campus have been measured and deliberate. The recently completed improvements to facilities and green spaces demonstrate how committed the Burroughs community remains to well-reasoned change to meet the needs of students.

Click below to learn more about the Burroughs Fine Art Collection, Campus Improvements, Campus Operations, and Drey Land.

Art Collection

Fine art is displayed throughout Burroughs’ campus. Stained-glass windows adorn classrooms in the Brauer and STAR buildings, and multiple bas-reliefs are displayed inside and outside multiple buildings — all designed and created by students. In addition, Burroughs has two professional galleries where local and national artists display their work. The Fine Arts Advisory Committee (FAAC) was established in 2007. Since the establishment of the FAAC, Burroughs’ art collection has expanded significantly and now totals more than 300 pieces, including numerous sculptures, paintings and prints. Endowed gifts to support ongoing acquisition, curation, management, storage, cataloging, insurance, and restoration of the collection are needed.

Campus Improvements

Campus Safety, Security and Sustainability
New and Recently Funded Projects

Campus Safety, Security and Sustainability

Sustainability has been a core value of Burroughs since the school’s founding. This value is infused in the curriculum, student activities, and how the school cares for its campus. In addition, Burroughs is continuously working to assess and mediate safety and security. Implementing new technology to ensure Burroughs’ facilities are welcoming and secure, as well as environmentally and financially sustainable, requires endowed funds to support continuous improvements in perpetuity.

New and Recently Funded Projects

RECENTLY FUNDED PROJECTS

As part of the Board of Trustees' five-year strategic plan, the administration and Board identified several improvements to strengthen the school's athletic facilities. These improvements impact our field hockey, golf, lacrosse, squash, swimming, diving, and water polo programs at all levels — and, as a bonus, provide additional parking to support all of these activities. These enhancements also provide much-needed flexibility for the varsity teams, PE program, middle school teams, and youth sports program.

A GOLF PRACTICE AREA north of the tennis courts was completed in spring 2019.
As part of the scheduled replacement of synthetic turf on the FIELD HOCKEY FIELD, the field was expanded to support practice and regulation play for LACROSSE. The project also included a spectator PAVILION and was completed in time for the fall 2020 season.
A NEW NATATORIUM, including an eight-lane regulation pool, new locker rooms, and spectator seating for 200+, opened in November 2020.
Four regulation SQUASH COURTS were built on the old pool footprint. Opened in December 2020, the venue also includes additional flexible court space and a viewing area.
ADDITIONAL PARKING off Clayton Road added 72 more parking spaces. The exit to Clayton Road was also widened to create two full lanes — one for left turns and one for right turns.

We are grateful for the early and generous support of these projects by more than 60 families (past and present). Please contact Ginger Imster (314-993-4045 ext. 256) if you would like to learn more or donate.

Campus Operations

Drey Land

In 1969, Leo Drey '34 offered to lease 44 acres of Ozark woodland in the Pioneer Forest to Burroughs for an annual fee of $1.

Currently, Drey Land supports the Burroughs biology curriculum, outdoor education, programs for incoming 7th and 9th graders, and the 12th grade leadership trip. During the school’s most recent strategic planning process, Drey Land was prioritized for capital improvements to better accommodate students and staff.

Identified needs include a larger lodge with handicap accessibility, more storage, ease of maintenance, improved refrigeration, a dedicated infirmary, an expanded dining room, and accommodations for faculty chaperones. Click here for more information and to make a gift to this project.

Contact Amy Greenwood Dunaway ’92 at 314-993-4045, ext. 315, or email adunaway@jburroughs.org.

A belief in education is a belief in the future. Gifts of endowment honor the thousands of remarkable people who have taught and learned on the Burroughs campus. The curious, kind, competitive, and talented people who help one another, love one another and grow-up together.
—
Andy Abbott, Head of School

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