WILMINGTON — Ursuline Academy has received a $1.75 million gift from Paul and Linda McConnell to create a tuition assistance program for its Lower School children and bolster the existing Innovation Program they helped establish in 2016.

The donation will have a transformational impact across the academy and provide an accelerated pathway to the goals of the newly launched Blaze Brighter strategic plan, which secures Ursuline Academy’s position as a trailblazer in teaching and learning, school officials say.

“Ursuline Academy has benefited tremendously from the long-standing support and generosity of Paul and Linda McConnell, and now, this monumental gift will have a profound effect on our ability to serve our youngest learners today and in the future,” said Dr. Trisha Medeiros, president of Ursuline. “Our gratitude for Paul and Linda’s gift is only matched by our excitement for what this will mean for our entire school community, especially the deserving children we serve.”

The $1.75 million commitment is anchored by a $1.25 million gift to create the Paul and Linda McConnell Young Scholars Program, supporting Lower School tuition assistance needs. The gift will immediately direct $250,000 to the assistance fund and $1 million to endow the scholars program in perpetuity. The remaining $500,000 will expand Ursuline’s award-winning Innovation Program’s reach into the Lower School and create learning spaces in the Upper and Middle schools, designed specifically for young women to create the innovations they invent.

“As long-standing members of the Ursuline family, we have seen what an impact the school has had on the lives of its students and the greater community,” said Mr. McConnell. “We are confident Trisha and her team will turn this gift into endless opportunities for children to grow, learn and thrive as Ursuline students. Further, Linda and I hope this gift inspires others to give to the endowment, which ensures this storied institution’s financial security for years to come.”

The Young Scholars Fund will provide tuition assistance to low-income students in the Lower School. Additionally, their support will help create a partnership between Ursuline and St. Michael’s School and Nursery, a feeder to this program.

Their gift will also fund the expansion of the successful Upper School Innovation Program into the Lower School. The aptly named Biz Kids launch will create Lower School opportunities for students focused on entrepreneurial mind-set development; business creation; financial literacy and responsibility; media and communications; and branding and graphic design.

A gift from the McConnells in 2016 spurred the creation of the Innovation Program, which allowed Ursuline to become one of the first Delaware high schools to participate in the University of Delaware’s EntreX Lab for high school entrepreneurs. Since the program launched, Ursuline students have consistently earned accolades in the Diamond Challenge, a worldwide pitch competition for social and business innovation ideas.

The remainder of their gift will provide initial funding for the Ursuline Academy Innovation, Design-thinking, Entrepreneurship & Activity Lab. Serving young women in both the Upper and Middle schools, as well as exchange students from Salesianum School, this instructional space will inspire and enhance innovation in teaching and learning. Further, the space will be a think tank where young women will develop business management and financial literacy skills.

The McConnells’ involvement with and support of Ursuline dates back three decades when their children attended the Lower School in the 1990s and 2000s.