Morgan Park Academy is proud to announce the establishment of the Alice S. Coller Scholarship, a new scholarship created by generous donors to support the Academy’s commitment to accessibility and educational opportunity for students across Chicago.
The Alice S. Coller Scholarship will strengthen Morgan Park Academy’s broader financial assistance efforts, ensuring that a transformative independent school education remains accessible to talented and deserving students from diverse backgrounds. The fund reflects the Academy’s ongoing dedication to fostering opportunity, academic excellence, and social mobility.
As part of this initiative, the Coller Scholarship will partially fund the newly created 2-2-2 Academic Excellence Scholarship, a merit-based program designed to recognize outstanding academic achievement among prospective Upper School students.
“The establishment of the Alice S. Coller Scholarship represents an investment in both excellence and access,” said Kristy Kotek, the Academy’s Vice President of Advancement and Community Relations.
“Mrs. Coller’s devotion to MPA’s mission and students is reflected in the legacy of this scholarship, which helps ensure that talented students have the opportunity to benefit from a Morgan Park Academy education, regardless of financial circumstances, while also recognizing exceptional academic achievement.”
Alice Coller lived and worked at Morgan Park Academy for 37 years. She moved with her husband and three boys from southern New Hampshire in 1963.
The reason for the move was an opportunity, a new job for her husband, Don, and an education for her boys at a college preparatory school.
Mrs. Coller was the Campus Store Chairman, managing the bookstore, ordering all student textbooks and supplies; worked as an assistant librarian in the Alumni Hall library; advisor to the Compendium the school yearbook; and chaperoned multiple international trips. She spent many hours collecting and organizing school photographs and historical documents.
Alice truly believed in the mission of Morgan Park Academy and cherished the friends and relationships with students and faculty that she made there.
During the school’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2023, she and her husband were among 150 former faculty members, alumni, trustees, parents, and friends of the Academy recognized for their tremendous contributions in the school’s first 150 years.
Morgan Park Academy serves students from Pre-K through Grade 12 and is committed to developing independent thinkers, global leaders, and engaged citizens. Through scholarship programs like the Alice S. Coller Scholarship and the Academic Excellence Scholarship, the Academy continues to invest in the next generation of scholars and leaders.
For more information regarding scholarship opportunities or funding considerations, please email Kristy Kotek, our Vice President of Advancement and Community Relations.
