At St. Benedict’s, our teachers want and expect involvement with students in and out of class, and they commit to an 11 month schedule. To attract and keep the most talented and dedicated teachers, we must pay them fairly. We know we have to do more. Our average teacher salary places us in the second quintile among New Jersey independent schools and at a level that is only two-thirds of the average New Jersey public school teacher’s salary. Recognizing that our teachers forgo summer earnings, we want to take our compensation into the first tier among independent schools and close the gap with the public schools by at least half.

We seek to do this by permanent funding through endowment by increasing our Teachers’ Endowment Fund by $6 million, $500,000 of which would be earmarked as a special incentive fund for younger faculty.

We know that both new and veteran faculty need to see themselves as learners and to remain actively engaged in their academic and professional disciplines. We have encouraged such study in recent years through special grants for graduate work and have instituted a dollar-for-dollar matching fund for any faculty member to use for appropriate course work or special study. We want to offer more support to our young teachers as they begin or complete graduate work in their disciplines or take courses to improve their teaching skills, as well as encourage veteran teachers’ continued professional development through a number of study and sabbatical opportunities.

To expand and make permanent such development programs, we seek an endowment fund of $500,000.

Click here for information on how you can contribute to the continuing success of St. Benedict's Prep or contact Paul E. Thornton, VP for Development at (973) 792-5775 or pthornton@sbp.org.