Los Olivos boarding school launches emergency Ukraine scholarship fund to keep and bring students on campus

LOS OLIVOS, Calif. – Dunn School, a private boarding school, launches an emergency scholarship to bring and keep students from Ukraine on campus. This comes after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian journalist Olia Freimut has her daughter Zlata at Dunn School since last fall.

Freimut said she is thankful to have made this decision after the war thats been going on for weeks now.

"I wasn’t sure about my daughter going so far away,” Freimut said.

“When she was only 14, she applied to Dunn School. I wanted her to be in Ukraine with me, but I think we are blessed by God because, right now, she’s not struggling. She has food, she has friends, she has community, teachers, the best professionals around her, and for me, right now, I’m so happy she is in a safe place.”

More than 2 million Ukrainians have left their country to safety.

“Every single morning I look up, and I look at the news, then I start calling everybody I love,” Freimut said.

“My father, it’s my mother, it’s my brother … my friends. My best friend, she’s still in Kyiv. … Every time, I’m looking at the phone saying ‘please answer, please answer,’ and if they’re not answering, I’m just losing my mind, because they are in shelters underground for a lot of days with small kids and no food.”

Now, Dunn School has an emergency scholarship, to keep students like Zlata on campus and bring some students to the boarding school.

The initial goal of the scholarship fund is to raise $240,000. That would cover three full international scholarships specifically for students from Ukraine to board at Dunn for a full academic year — including tuition, room and boarding, incidentals such as school supplies, living expenses, and homestay support during school breaks. 

To donate, click here.