In the 1990s, then Intermediate School principal, Cheryl Dudley (now retired superintendent of Greenville Central School District), convened a group of teachers and community members to discuss an education foundation for Victor Central Schools. Fast forward to the mid-2000s when Dawn Santiago-Marullo, a district teacher who was part of that original group, was promoted to Director of Special Projects and Programs. She recognized a gap in the district with respect to alumni and launched several initiatives to create stronger relationships with alumni. When she became superintendent of Victor Central Schools in 2009, Santiago-Marullo knew the time had come to move the vision of an education foundation forward.
“At VCS, we have a long-standing and proud tradition of community support for our students. A foundation will allow us to expand that support so we can provide new opportunities for our students, opportunities that just aren’t possible through the regular district budget anymore. I’m excited about the possibilities,” said Santiago-Marullo.
Santiago-Marullo enlisted the support of Brian Ferguson, an alumni and retired teacher of the District to start the exploration of a foundation in 2011. Through discussions with the New York State School Board Association and districts with established foundations, Brian and his team saw the vision take shape. After several years of planning by a group of VCS Alumni with the guidance of Santiago-Marullo, the Victor Central Schools Educational Foundation (VCSEF) was officially approved by the Board of Education in June 2014.
Cyndy Rochford, part of Ferguson’s original team, was the first president of the VCSEF. According to Rochford, “the vision of the foundation is to provide an enhanced experience through increased opportunities that promote education excellence for the Victor Central Schools community. The Foundation is committed to achieving its vision through the core values of: teamwork, inclusiveness, educational excellence, loyalty, and integrity.”
In the early years, the Board of Trustees focused on fundraising in order to fund field trips, technology, and teacher grants. Rochford said, “We aren’t limiting ourselves in the types of programs we will support, but these areas emerged in our early work.”
To ensure efficient operation of the Foundation, the Board of Trustees chose to partner with the Finger Lakes Area Community Endowment (FLACE), a trust established in 1994 with the Canandaigua National Bank and Trust Company (CNB). By partnering with FLACE, VCSEF acquires tax exempt status and separate fund management within FLACE. “FLACE has experience with similar organizations and is part of CNB’s commitment to the community. They take on the management functions of the Foundation so the trustees can focus on generating funds and disbursing them to projects within the district,” said Rochford.
With an ever-growing alumni network and a community committed to the district, the Trustees look forward to capturing support for projects to improve the educational experience for the students of Victor. The first donation to the Foundation was given many years ago by Cheryl Dudley. The district was pleased to finally allocate these funds as the first donation to the new foundation.