The Foundation for Scotland School for Veterans' Children

Located a little over 20 miles west of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania – the scene of the “turning point” of the Civil War, Scotland, PA shared in both the victory for the Union, as well as in the loss of life of her citizen-soldiers. And in this small hamlet, on 183 acres of rolling hills, Scotland School for Veterans’ Children was born.

Just a week or so after Abraham Lincoln’s now famous Gettysburg Address, while seated at the table for a Thanksgiving Day dinner, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin answered a knock at the mansion door. Standing there, cold and frightened, were two hungry children, a brother and his sister – begging for food. Upon taking them in, Governor Curtin and his family soon learned that the two children were orphans, their mother had just died and their father was killed in the Civil war.

From that destined encounter in November of 1863, the wheels of intention were set into motion. Orphans from the civil war were now given care by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Then, in 1895, Pennsylvania consolidated its various schools for orphans and needful children into the Pennsylvania Soldiers Industrial School – what is today known as Scotland School for Veterans’ Children.

Spanning over a century that has seen America’s heroes fighting in more than a dozen wars and conflicts, Scotland School for Veterans’ Children continues to answer the call for the plight of many of the children of Pennsylvania’s veterans. Over 10,000 students have walked the hallowed halls of Scotland. By offering a residential educational opportunity, Scotland School has created a loving, caring, and safe environment that promotes learning and lifelong achievement for its students.