Overview

List of 5 items.

• THE EXCELLENCE FUND

  The Excellence Fund is the annual and recurring effort that benefits every aspect of the LCDS experience, including arts, athletics, technology, and, of course, academics. The Excellence Fund truly impacts every student and helps ensure the vibrancy and vigor that define LCDS. Because of its profound impact on the experience we are able to offer, we ask everyone within our community to make The Excellence Fund their highest philanthropic priority.

• GIFTS FOR PENNSYLVANIA TAX CREDIT - EITC AND OSTC

  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognizes LCDS as an approved scholarship organization within the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs. These programs allow companies to make significant contributions to LCDS and to receive 90% tax credits in return. Any business with a Pennsylvania tax liability is eligible to participate. Last year, corporate partners gave LCDS more than $350,000. Corporate gifts range from $1,000 to more than $50,000. For more information, visit the PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development, our Gifts for Tax Credit or contact the LCDS Chief Advancement Officer.

• CAPITAL PROJECTS

  The LCDS Campus Master Plan was drafted in 2013 and calls for four major areas of facilities upgrades to occur over the next two decades. The plan’s first phase was realized in summer 2016 with the renovation of our Lower School and the creation of President Avenue access and additional parking. The second phase, a new Physical Education & Athletic Center, opened in the fall of 2017. Future phases call for the construction of a new theater and science center. The $14,000,000 Room to Grow capital campaign project makes these improvements possible.

• PLANNED AND OTHER GIFTS

  Have you included LCDS in your estate plans? There are a variety of giving strategies that help you provide for LCDS, while also advancing your own personal objectives. Our Heritage Society recognizes individuals who have made provisions for Lancaster Country Day School.

• ENDOWMENT GIFTS

  Lancaster Country Day School is fortunate to have an endowment in excess of $25 million. The principal funds are protected so that every year a portion of the endowment's interest revenue may be designated in support of scholarships, programs, and faculty salaries. 

  
  

  Endowed funds help to sustain the school’s signature programs and support student scholarship awards. Many were established to honor individuals and their commitments to our school by giving back on an annual basis. Key among those funds are:

  
  

  • The John A. & Sally M. Jarvis Scholarship - Established to honor the service, leadership and dedication of John Jarvis and Sally Jarvis, the scholarship bearing their name may be applied on an either need-based or merit-based basis. The John A. & Sally M. Jarvis Scholarship currently supports the merit-based Jarvis Scholars Program.
  • The Steven D. Lisk H’22 Endowment for Global Programming - The Lisk Endowment was created in 2022 to honor Steve Lisk for his fourteen years as the Head of School. The fund seeks to: sustain and enhance community-wide conversations about the larger world, purposely develop an awareness of global citizenry, support ongoing professional development in global themes for faculty and staff, and enable direct student engagement in the larger world through educational travel and the hosting of international students at LCDS.
  • The Kate Gschwend Miller ‘90 Scholarship Endowment - Lancaster Country Day School alumna and teacher Kate Gschwend Miller will long be remembered in our school community by classmates, students and colleagues. This fund supplements the tuition of a middle school student.
  • The Frederick “Chip” Smedley Fund - Named after Frederick “Chip” Smedley an LCDS friend, mentor and teacher who shaped our Model United Nations (MUN) program.The donations received in Smedley’s memory have gone toward a fund dedicated to making MUN more accessible to more students by defraying the cost of travel that the course entails.
  • The ROCK (Removing Obstacles through Community Kindness) Fund - While LCDS strives to remain financially within reach for as many families as possible, there are times when it is too much for some in our community to go beyond tuition and afford other expenses. In 2023, LCDS created the ROCK Fund to assist families in overcoming these barriers. Its creation is a clear reflection of the LCDS mindset of caring for each other and recognizing the importance of feeling like a full member of our school family.

  
  

  LCDS is grateful to members of the community who invest in existing endowed funds, those who create new funds within their lifetimes and others who create funds through estate provisions.

  
  

  To make a gift to an existing endowed fund, click here and choose the fund name or Endowment on the drop down menu.
  
  

  If you wish to make a lasting tribute to a classmate, teacher, friend or program by establishing an endowed fund, please contact Chief Advancement Officer Shelby LaMar at (717) 397-7240.

  
  

  All of the named funds that were part of the LCDS endowment as of June 2022 are listed here.