The Derryfield Fund
Areas of Support
Designate your gift specifically for an area of support that is important to you.
The financial aid program is critical in connecting bright, motivated students with the DS experience. This funding priority confidentially matches supporters with a student who requires financial assistance to maintain their DS education.
Keeping our campus facilities and technology updated, inviting, and functional is an ongoing project. This includes things like painting a classroom, upgrades to computers and servers, and regular grounds maintenance.
In support of our strategic plan initiative, this funding promotes new and existing diversity and inclusion training and programs at DS. This includes conferences, trainings and resources for faculty, staff, students and families.
This funding priority supports teachers in developing their classes, training materials, professional development days, and more.
This priority helps our faculty develop important activities including Leadership, Ethics, & Development (LEAD), Independent Senior Projects (ISP), athletics, the arts and more.
The Faces of Derryfield
Roz & David Carlson
In 2015, Roz and Dave suffered the unimaginable loss of their son, Peter, a graduate of the Derryfield Class of 1983. At the time of his passing, Peter was an educator at McLaughlin Middle School in Manchester. In their grief, Roz and Dave turned to Derryfield as a way to honor Peter, and his passion for education. They were looking for a way to support talented youth coming from the Manchester school districts, to give them an opportunity to attend Derryfield and reach their full potential.
What started with conversations with Alice Handwerk and Kathleen Rutty-Fey, blossomed into the incredible “Peter Carlson ’83 Financial Aid Fund,” which today supports the tuition of Carlson Scholars. Students accepted to Derryfield as Carlson Scholars know they are entering DS carrying this legacy into the future.
When we shared with the Carlsons that we wanted to honor them for establishing this remarkable gift, in their typical fashion, they didn’t want any fuss. They wanted this to be all about Peter—so let us tell you more about him.
Bill Krantz, the principal at McLaughlin Middle School, shared that Peter was so giving of his time, and dedicated to the students. Among other roles, Peter monitored in-school suspension, and Bill declared there was nobody who loved these students more than Peter. Bill joked that he thought some students would get in trouble on purpose, just to spend time with Peter.
During his time at McLaughlin, it was clear that Peter saw the potential in so many students, because each time he connected back to Derryfield, to watch his niece Sally’s middle school play, for example, he initiated conversations with DS community members about how we can create pathways for high-flying, underserved students to attend Derryfield.
Roz and Dave created the financial aid fund because Peter wanted it—
not for glory or recognition. We chose to honor them, their family, and this legacy that will live on for generations. For a small school like Derryfield, their endowment has changed how we see ourselves, and how the rest of the world sees us. We are a school community worthy of incredible generosity. We are a school that changes the lives of the students and their families. Roz and Dave, through this incredible gift, their spirit, their humor, and passion for education, are the most deserving recipients of the 2022 Cikacz Family Philanthropy Award.
The Faces of Derryfield
The VanArsdale and Dewey Family
When their daughters Sara ’03 and Kate ’05 started at Derryfield, the whole family got involved. Mom, Pam VanArsdale, jumped right in and started volunteering. She was one of the hardest working volunteers on the campaign to build the middle school back in 1996. Grandparents, Marjorie and Bud, saw how much their daughter and granddaughters were getting out of their Derryfield experience, so they got involved too. Their family came together across all three generations to support the Thinking Forward Campaign, in honor of the great experience that each of them had with the School as students, parents, and grandparents. They are proud to build on the vision of the Founders and the generosity of all the donors who came before them.
The Faces of Derryfield
Marty Nagy-Wentz and Jack Wentz
Marty and Jack wanted to give back to help move Derryfield forward. “Those who came before us created a really great school and we benefited from the investments they made in Derryfield,” Jack says. “We felt we should do our part to help Derryfield create teaching, learning, athletic, and community spaces that matched the quality of the curriculum for the next generation of students.” When reflecting on their daughter Erika’s time at Derryfield, Marty and Jack recognize that Derryfield provided her with a truly unique experience. “She was well prepared for college, having already explored and balanced a wide variety of interests. At Derryfield she learned to advocate for herself, while expanding her skills and being kind and supportive of others.”
