SOUTH BERWICK (AP) – Berwick Academy says it’s received $3.5 million, the largest cash gift in the school’s 217-year history.

Head of School Greg Schneider says the money was left to the school with no restrictions. It comes from the estate of Helen Hasty Perreault, widow of Berwick Academy alumnus Victor Perreault, who died in 1962.

A member of the academy’s Class of 1933, Victor Perreault was a Navy veteran of World War II who spent most of his career as a proofreader at a government printing office in Washington. His widow continued to live in Arlington, Va., until her death in the summer of 2007.

Founded in 1791, Berwick Academy has nearly 600 students in grades K-12 from southern Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.