A group of anonymous donors has given Shady Side Academy a $5.2 million gift, the second-largest in school history. The contribution will fund scholarships in honor of the academy’s late former middle school headmaster, David A. Mancosh Sr., and his wife, Rose Marie.
Interim President Amy Nixon said in a news release that the gift is a “meaningful and powerful” way to honor the couple’s legacy at the academy.
“Dave and Rose Marie Mancosh were integral parts of the Shady Side Academy community for years, and their influence has been felt for generations,” she said. “This gift ensures that their legacy will continue and influence countless lives over the course of the coming years.”
The donation will bolster more than $220,000 in an existing endowment named for the late headmaster to create the David and Rose Marie Mancosh Scholarship Fund. The fund will pay for seven scholarships each year in perpetuity for students in grades six to 12.
Tuition in those grades next year will range between $27,200 and $31,975, according to the academy’s website.
Recipients — known as “Mancosh Scholars” — must have a financial aid need of at least 80 percent of current and projected tuition costs. The academy will award the scholarships based on academic ability coupled with talent in the arts, sports and other areas.
Mr. Mancosh, who joined Shady Side Academy as a seventh grade teacher in 1953, became headmaster of the middle school in 1966 until his retirement 20 years later. He and Mrs. Mancosh had four sons who graduated from the academy between 1970 and 1976.
The academy, which enrolls more than 1,000 students across four age-specific campuses, was founded in 1883.
The largest gift in academy history came from 1942 alumnus Grant Shipley, spokeswoman Jennifer Roupe said in an email. His posthumous $9 million donation in 2002 funded construction of the Hillman Center for Performing Arts and a major renovation of Rowe Hall, she said.
First Published: April 22, 2019, 9:28 p.m.
