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Annual Giving Participation
Rate Reaches All-time High!
By Lucy Wurtz, Development Director
We are headed for a historic parent participation rate in our Annual Giving Campaign for the 2007/08 school year! This success is due largely to the solid culture of giving that has been established at WSP over the past five years, as well as the new assistance of our Annual Giving ambassadors who served this year.
Here are our Annual Giving statistics as of July 1.
- Board, Faculty, and Administration: 100% participation
- Parent participation rate: 98% participation
- Received or pledged to date: $137,000
- Percent of dollar goal pledged or received: 86%
Our Annual Giving campaign is the cornerstone of our fundraising efforts at WSP. Annual Giving contributions are essential to the day-to-day operations of the school, and are tax-deductible for the donor.
Both the participation rate and total dollar goal are important to the success of our Annual Giving campaign. While looking at non-profit organizations, the first question potential donors ask is how well the how well our own community supports our school. This is measured by our participation rates among the faculty, administration, board, and parent body. The total dollar goal for the school ($160,000 for this year) is also important as it goes directly into our operating fund to pay for school programs, faculty and staff compensation, and capital expenses each year.
If you have not had a chance to make your contribution or would like to help move us closer to our dollar goal, please make a gift or pledge (due by July 15, 2008) before we end our fiscal year on July 31st. Any size gift is welcome, and Annual Giving contributions are fully tax-deductible. Contribution/pledge cards and envelopes are in the office or donate online: http://www.waldorfpeninsula.org/support/donate_now.html
Annual Giving Percentages by Class
Contributing Companies
Adobe, Cisco Systems, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, McAfee, Nikon, SalesForce, Sun Microsystems, United Way, Wells Fargo
Alumni, Relatives and Friends
10 Families
2008 Spring Gala,
“Dancing Under the Stars”
Saturday, May 31th was our seventh annual Spring Gala Dinner, Dance and Silent Auction. The Gala is our biggest fundraiser of the year and always provides a wonderful opportunity to socialize with other adults in our community. This year’s theme was “Dancing Under the Stars”.
Preliminary analysis of this year’s Gala proceeds project a profit of approximately $60,000 to the school. This year we sold 615 raffle tickets for a hybrid Toyota Prius, most of which were sold to family, friends, and colleagues outside of our own community, and netted an approximate $40,000 profit! Proceeds from the Silent Auction are estimated to be $20,000. Final numbers will be reported once the school closes its fiscal year in July. Another big THANK YOU goes to co-chairs Kristy Brandenburg and Sandy Olson, and the many volunteers who donated items and spent countless hours making the Gala such a success!
WSP Receives $2,500 Grant from Rudolf Steiner Foundation
We recently received a $2,500 grant from Rudolf Steiner Foundation (RSF), funding fifty percent of Speech Teacher Leila Allen’s work with the middle school students and the faculty.
Leila worked with the Seventh and Eighth Grade on their class plays, helping individuals with their parts and coaching the class collectively. The school community, parents and students, saw the results of our work in three of our plays. ”Momo and the Thieves of Time” by the Eighth Grade,” Much Ado About Nothing” by the Seventh, and “The Shepherds’ Play” by the faculty.
Leila also provided the following speech support to the WSP faculty:
- Speech exercises during Faculty meetings
- Coaching individual players on their parts for the “Shepherds’ Play”
- Individual speech work with interested teachers
- More intensive individual work with teachers who had speech work recommended to them by a mentor or evaluator.
We are very grateful to RSF for this grant as Speech is an integral part of Waldorf pedagogy. This work allows students (in this case, both the children and the faculty) to make a connection with their breath, enliven the spoken word with imagery and feeling, and improve the quality and clarity of their speech.
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High School News
High School Fundraising Continues
By Lucy Wurtz
HS Fund has raised $120,000 since May 2008!
Only $82,000 needed to meet our August goal
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“So is it worth the struggle, the planning, and the tremendous effort it takes to start a Waldorf high school? One might just as well ask if it is worth continuing to water the plants, to weed between them, to compost the soil once your garden is thriving yet before the plants begin to flower. Without the high school, we would never experience the blossoming of artistic activities, social impulses and thinking capabilities that emerge in these adolescent years.”
Cat Greenstreet,
The Austin Waldorf School, Starting a High School
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Plans are well underway for the second exciting year for our pioneer high school. In September, a robust Freshman class will be joining our now Sophomores. New faculty will join our high school and continue to define a curriculum and social experience that honors both the ideals formulated by Rudolf Steiner nearly one hundred years ago and the needs of today’s adolescents growing up in Silicon Valley.
Over the remaining years of our pioneering phase—which will end when we have populated the 9th though 12th grades—ongoing fundraising efforts are needed to bridge the gap between tuition income and expenses. We expect the high school to be financially self-sustaining, when it has completed its first four years. As we projected in September 2006, the total start-up cost for the high school is approximately $1,500,000.
To date, we have raised $582,000 in contributions and pledges toward the $1.5 million goal from our many generous donors. We are just over one-third of the way there! This includes $462,000 over the 18-month period between Spring 2006 and Fall 2007 and $120,000 raised in May and June 2008. Thank you to the many generous donors who have made a contribution to the High School Fund during this critical period.
The minimum required to fund operations through 2008/09 as planned is $664,000 by this August. Our stretch goal is $790,000, which will give us a head start on next year’s fundraising efforts. To summarize—by August we must raise between $82,000 and $207,000. In 08/09, we will be launching a capital campaign that will reach out to a larger constituency, including alumni, other like-minded organizations, and the private sector. In addition, we are actively seeking funding from local foundations.
An investment now will help ensure a solid and stable school when it completes its pioneer phase in the 2010/2011 school year. By aligning our resources and our values, we — both as individuals and as a community — make a positive impact on the world, which is the ultimate purpose of a Waldorf education. A gift to the high school is a gift to the future.
For additional details about how the high school benefits the whole school, please see the letter sent on June 11, 2008.
Thank you for whatever contribution you can make to this effort. If you have any questions or comments, or would like to have a conversation prior to making a donation or pledge, please contact me at lvwurtz@yahoo.com, call me at 650-948-8433 x105, or stop by my office.
New High School Faculty
Hired for Next Year
Deborah Newlen will join our high school next year to teach English and Drama. Deborah has been teaching at the East Bay Waldorf High School since 2005 and earlier was founder, director, and head teacher of a small Waldorf-inspired elementary school.
Deborah has been teaching English, Drama, Philosophy, Psychology, and Wcological literacy at East Bay, served as board member and faculty chair, and founded traditions such as the Junior Wilderness Trip and the All High School Summer Reading Symposium. At WSP, some of the courses Deborah will teach include: 9th grade Writing and Grammar, Comedy and Tragedy (English), and 10th grade Poetics (English), Drama, and World Religions.
Deborah brings many ideas about collaboration between WSP High School and the East Bay Waldorf School that will increase the social pool and enhance the learning experiences of all of our students.
Niko Kyriakou will be joining us from the Santa Fe Waldorf School to teach history. Originally from the Bay Area, Niko has traveled and worked in more than 35 countries, where he served as both a political journalist and teacher of English as a Foreign Language.
At the Santa Fe school, Niko developed and taught a full panoply of history courses, ranging from ancient to modern, as well as leading student trips and serving as soccer coach. Niko is interested in bringing a global curriculum to WSP High School and helping students explore their relationship to the modern dilemma. Next year Niko will be teaching English and History.
We are thrilled to have these new faculty members on board!
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WSP Job Openings
Receptionist (Part-Time)
Receptionist needed to begin employment August 1, 2008, with training hours to begin in July.
This position is paid hourly and with 35 hours per week during the school year and approximately 15 hours per week during the summer recess.
The ideal candidate will serve as the direct interface between parents, students and administrative staff/teaching faculty. Providing excellent, professional and compassionate customer service is the primary job function of this key member of the administrative team. Additionally, this position will lead the clerical duties of the main office, assist with key administrative tasks and provide clerical support to the Administrative staff on a project-to-project basis.
Required skills include self-directed information gathering, problem-solving and the ability to deftly manage multiple tasks. A working knowledge of Microsoft Office, good word processing skills, and ability to work with our online database are required, as well as excellent communication skills
The receptionist must be available between the hours of 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Thursday hours are 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
For more information or to apply, please contact Stephanie Rynas at 650-948-8433 or srynas@waldorfpeninsula.org.
Community Development Coordinator (Part-Time)
A Community Development Coordinator part-time position is available beginning August 1, 2008.
This position is paid hourly and with an average of 15 hours per week during the school year.
The Community Development Coordinator will serve as the key link between the community (parents, faculty/staff, alumni, and friends) and the school on all community related events. Working with the Administrative staff, Community Life Committee and the Parent Circle, the Community Development Coordinator helps foster adult connections and engagement in the school.
Key responsibilities include:
- Serves as a liaison between Community Life Committee and the volunteer event leaders,
- Provides administrative support to community events,
- Helps with volunteer coordination; matching the needs of the school with the interests, skills and abilities of the individual,
- Works with the Parent Circle on coordination of community events,
- Serves as a member of the Community Life Committee, helping to manage the school events calendar, and supporting the adult education programs,
- Supports alumni relations,
- Supports the receptionist and main office staff with the demands of the office during peak activity times.
Required skills include strong organizational skills and results-oriented approach balanced with the ability to reach out and make connections with members of our community. Effective communications skills are essential to successfully balance detailed tasks and activities with the larger goals of the various groups within our community. A working knowledge of Microsoft Office, and ability to work with our on-line database are necessary. Understanding of Waldorf Education and the concerns and issues of parents is a plus.
The Community Development Coordinator schedule will be driven by the schedule of meetings with volunteers, administrative staff, parent circle and the support need of the office as well as free time on campus for ad hoc discussions and connections with parents.
For more information or to apply, please contact Stephanie Rynas at 650-948-8433 or srynas@waldorfpeninsula.org.
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From the Office
Summer Camp Openings!
The Early Childhood camps for weeks 5 and 6 have openings. Additionally, a family signed their child up for the July 14-18 gymnastics camp (which is for grades 2-5 with Waldorf graduate Leila Waheed) but she is unable to attend due to an injury. The family would like to to sell the spot to someone who wants to join this camp. Please contact the office soon if this is might work for you!
Volunteer Sought to Assist
with Alumni Database
We are currently looking for a volunteer to help update our alumni data and prepare it for entry into our new database. Katharina Woodman, board member and alumni coordinator, has been working diligently to track alumni students and families so that we can expand our outreach efforts. Her work is particularly timely as we would like to include these alumni in our 25th year celebration next year.
If you have the time and interest in helping to input the information she has collected into an Excel spreadsheet, please contact Lucy Wurtz AND Stephanie Rynas at lvwurtz@yahoo.com AND srynas@waldorfpeninsula.org (one of them will be here all summer). This project could be done either in the school office or at home.Thanks!
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Community Bulletin Board
Waldorf Family Seeks Local Housing
A Waldorf family transitioning careers and needing to stay within Silicon Valley/SCC County seeks a long-term housing assignment. If you know of any Silicon Valley families who will be assigned overseas for one to two years, this family would like to care for the home, grounds and pets if applicable. The home does not need to be from a family in the Waldorf community but must be somewhere within Santa Clara County. If you know of anyone who is looking for caretakers or housesitters, please contact Jennifer Hanlon at office@waldorfpeninsula.org, and she will connect you to the family in need of housing.
Hamsters
The Hanlon family has a boatload of baby hamsters, all weaned, available for anyone who would like a friendly, easy-to-care-for pet! Hamsters are wonderful transition pets for teaching children the discipline of caring for small animals. After this kids can generally graduate to cats or dogs. We have learned that it is best to get either two girls or just one hamster of either gender. Call Jennifer Hanlon at 408-313-5783 to get your hamster(s) DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME!
Weekend Workshop about Money & Spirit
Rudolf Steiner College is offering a weekend workshop with John Bloom for administrative staff, parents, board members and teachers: Inside Out Upside Down: Working with Money and Spirit
Friday, July 25, 2008 7:00 PM Presentation
Saturday, July 26, 2008 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM Workshop
See flyer or more information or to register.
Discount on Summer Shakespeare
Grade 3 parents Mark and Rebecca Pickens and Festival Theatre Ensemble would like to offer special ticket pricing to Waldorf families for any performance of The Los Gatos Shakespeare Festival. Just download the special flyer and order by July 10th.
The Los Gatos Shakespeare Festival returns to Oak Meadow Park, 200 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos, in our 7th season: July 19-August 9. As always, seating is provided in our outdoor amphitheater in the park. All shows are evening performances starting at 8:00 PM.
This year's productions: The Tempest, As You Like It and Beauty and the Beast.
Order Season Passes (one low price, three dates of your choice) 24 hours a day online. Visit our website at www.lgshakes.org for a full calendar of the shows.
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Vacations & Holidays 2008/2009
