A private foundation is financing the scholarship, which will be awarded based on grades, character and financial need.

01:00 AM EST on Sunday, November 14, 2004

BY LINDA BORG
Journal Staff Writer

EAST GREENWICH -- Rocky Hill School has received a $250,000 grant to establish a scholarship program for students who otherwise might not be able to afford a private school education.

The Mariner Scholarship will be awarded to an entering high school freshman starting next fall. The four-year scholarship will be awarded based on financial need as well as the student's academic achievement and strength of character.

The scholarship was financed by a private out-of-state foundation that wants to remain anonymous, according to Martha Hough, the school's director of development.

"We, along with all of the other independent schools, were invited to propose a program that would encourage public school students to consider attending an independent school," she said, "because this foundation feels strongly about the value of an independent school experience and understands that it can open doors for students as well as families."

Twenty schools belong to the Independent School Association of Rhode Island.

The Rocky Hill Board of Trustees has already committed a matching grant of $250,000 to establish the endowment fund. The school plans to raise $1.6 million so it can award a scholarship to an entering freshman every year.

Rocky Hill is in the middle of a $12-million capital campaign, and one of its goals is to increase the number of faculty and provide them with more professional development opportunities.

Rocky Hill is a pre-kindergarten-through-grade-12 private school with 335 students. For more information, call Catherine Washburn, director of admissions, at (401) 884-9070. Applications must be submitted by Feb. 15.