SANTA ROSA -- Students at Roseland University Prep are closer to having a new school thanks to a $1 million grant from the Ernest L. and Ruth W. Finley Foundation. The grant brings the total raised toward the five-year capital campaign to $8 million, just $600,000 shy of the total goal.
The project will also utilize a $7 million low-interest loan from the California School Finance Authority.
“We are thrilled by the support of the Finley Foundation,” said Roseland Public Schools Superintendent Amy Jones-Kerr. “Our students currently hold physical education in the parking lot as there isn’t a single blade of grass at the school. The new campus will feature state-of-the-art labs for students, enough classrooms for teachers to have their own space, and even a large family gathering space for the community to come together. It will truly support our mission of preparing all our students for college success.”
Founded in 1967, the Ernest L. and Ruth W. Finley Foundation has funded dozens of major projects and nonprofits in Sonoma County including the Finley Community Center and Person Senior Wing, and the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. Grants have touched almost all areas of need including education, youth, homelessness, the arts and many others.
“We recognize education for everyone is the fundamental building block of economic and community prosperity,” said Finley Foundation President Norma Person. “Roseland University Prep has already changed hundreds of lives in opening eyes to the value of higher education. Our grant is simply a statement of support for the students, teachers and administrators for what they have done and what we know they will do in the future in pursuit of their educational and life goals.”
Ten years after opening, 100 percent of Roseland University Prep’s 2014 graduating class is currently attending a two- or four-year university. Of the nearly 300 alumni who are part of the school’s official college tracking program, 63 percent are enrolled in college, have graduated or are in the armed services. This May, 15 Roseland University Prep alumni graduated from college. Currently, the school is located in leased facilities.
The new campus -- which will be located on a 1.83-acre parcel at 1777 West Ave. in Santa Rosa -- gives Roseland University Prep a permanent home for its 450 students -- about 90 percent of whom live within two miles of the campus. To maximize the small area, the school will be a two-story, 25,000-square-foot building with 17 classrooms, a library, a science lab, office space, a large multipurpose room and a courtyard.
Ken Churchill, chairperson of the Roseland University Prep Building Fund Raising Committee, said the remaining $600,000 to be raised will help furnish and equip the new campus. “The Roseland School District has demonstrated what an inspired, loving and dedicated staff and a supportive community can achieve and my hope is we will be building not only this school, but building a model for other schools in our community,” said Mr. Churchill. “Given the school’s success, I know the community will support our efforts.”
To support the Roseland University Prep fundraising campaign, visit www.roselandsd.org/RUP.
