Academy Receives Grant from E.E. Ford Foundation
The Edward E. Ford Foundation of Portland, Maine, has awarded a challenge grant of $50,000 to Salem Academy, a college preparatory school for girls in grades nine through 12 that was founded in 1772 and is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The 2:1 matching grant is for improving faculty salaries.
According to Karl Sjolund, Head of School, the grant addresses the priority institutional need at Salem Academy: improving faculty salaries. “Without question, the faculty of Salem Academy defines the essential quality of the institution,” he said. “To attract and retain the best teachers, Salem Academy must be able to offer competitive compensation. Increasing demand for teachers creates a competitive marketplace. That is why Salem Academy seeks to not only raise base salaries as soon as possible but also to provide equitable annual raises.”
Susan Pauly, president of Salem Academy and College, said, “A grant from Edward E. Ford Foundation will encourage others to recognize the need and help Salem Academy to build the long-range endowment for Academy faculty salaries. Salem Academy is deeply grateful for this grant, which is the second time the Edward E. Ford Foundation has taken the lead role in building the faculty salaries.”
In 2002, Salem Academy received a grant of $50,000 from the Edward E. Ford Foundation to create an endowment for faculty salaries. At that time, the decision was to use the income to improve the salaries of beginning faculty. These salaries were at the lowest end of the compensation range when compared to peer institutions. The 2002 grant from the Edward E. Ford Foundation served as a catalyst for other donors to get involved. The result was a successful fundraising effort which made a tremendous improvement in the Academy’s entry-level teacher salaries.
Thanks to this new grant in 2010, Salem Academy will be able to now concentrate on building the salaries of mid-career to end-of-career faculty. The $50,000 grant will be applied immediately to salary increases, and the matching funds will be added to the existing Edward E. Ford Foundation Faculty Salaries Endowment.
