Donor Stories
Renbrook School is deeply grateful to our donors for their dedication and generosity. Below you will find stories about some of our donors who have made generous contributions to our campaign.
The Gengras Family
Few families are as intricately woven into Renbrook’s history as the Gengrases. Edie and E. Clayton "Skip" Gengras, Jr. currently serve as co-chairs of the Grandparent Executive Committee, and Edie is a former member of the faculty and a past trustee. Edie and Skip’s sons, Chip Gengras ’85 and Jonathan Gengras ’87, are graduates of Renbrook, and all of them have fond memories of the boys' days as Renbrook athletes. Jonathan and his wife Robyn, who currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees, are the proud parents of two Renbrook alumni, Ged ’19 and Mary ’20, and a current Renbrook student, Katherine ’23, all of whom they describe as "diehard Renbrook athletes." Chip and his wife Ashley’s children, Julia ’15, Emmy ’17 and Clayt ’19, also have fond memories of their time as Hawks.
It’s these memories and the positive impact that Renbrook’s athletic program has had on their children that inspired the Gengras family’s generosity and ultimately the creation of Gengras Family Field. With Renbrook being the Gengras family’s common experience, it made sense to them to combine their legacies in a gift to the school that would celebrate the sports program that has meant so much to their family.
For their part, Edie and Skip love the "Take Flight" theme because it invokes memories of the Rentschlers yet looks to the future. And what better way to honor the future of Renbrook than with this remarkable gift? Robyn and Jonathan also wanted to give something of value to future Hawks while honoring their family’s deep Renbrook roots. The field, it was decided, would be a lasting testament to a special school-family relationship.
Renbrook is deeply grateful to the Gengras family for their dedication and generosity.
The Manafort Family
In the past, climbing the hill to get to the Upper Athletic Fields meant navigating puddles, roots, and rocks, on a muddy, ill-defined pathway. Now, thanks to the Manafort Family, their vision of a beautiful and welcoming community space, and their dedication to Renbrook, visitors to the fields traverse an elegant stone walkway on their path to a spacious flagstone plaza that is flanked by a stone wall displaying the school name and our iconic armillary sphere.
Manafort Family Plaza is a gift from the Manafort Family Foundation, which includes current families Jim and Jolyn Manafort (Madelyn ’24 and James ’28), Justin and Tabitha Manafort (Samantha ’18, Justin ’19, and Tommi Rose ’24), and William and Heather Manafort (Olivia ’24 and Owen ’31), along with parents of alumni Jason and Sandra Manafort ( Evan '13, Jon '16 and Julia '18), and grandparents Jon and Elisa Manafort. In addition to being the proud parents of two Renbrook alumni and one current student, Justin is a Renbrook trustee and Tab is a former member of the faculty. Jolyn, who is also a Renbrook trustee, reflected on the gift, its goal, and its impact on the Renbrook community in a recent conversation with the editor of Renbrook Magazine. "Because our children and our children's cousins have all had such wonderful Renbrook experiences, we wanted to give something wonderful back to the school that had given them so much," shares Jolyn. "We envisioned the plaza as a space to bring the community together."
And bring us together it has! Manafort Family Plaza was the perfect gathering place for families and friends last October when we launched Take Flight and celebrated our community during Fall Fest. Jolyn’s hope is that "our family's donation to the capital campaign can help to improve the school so that other families can benefit as ours has for many more years to come."
Thank you to the Manafort family for their support of the Take Flight Campaign and for their love of our Renbrook community.