Page 37 - Priorities #67 2017 Spring

With enough resources, at the right time, everything blossoms
This winter’s phenomenal rainfall officially ended the drought and brought stunning changes to our landscape. Certainly the quintessential California hillside is a lush, vibrant green and from the Dining Hall, Windy Hill has never looked more verdant. New structures have also cropped up and sprouted to life on campus this winter. The seeds were planted in 2013 with the launch of our Building Ingenuity Campaign. So far we’ve raised 88% of our goal, and if we stay on course, the campus will be in full bloom by January 2018.
Parent engagement in the life of the school is flourishing, inspiring us all with their life-giving, energetic support. From the Golf tournament to the Gala, from the bleachers to the Board of Trustees, in the garden and the PAC, for the dormers and the faculty and staff–parent volunteers shared their abundant talents, skills, experience and creativity in service, building community in support of every single student at Woodside Priory School. These wonderful parent resources have been cultivated and harvested with lovely leadership from PPA Presidents Kathy Fitzgerald and Kathy Rust who finish the first of their two year term.
The Gala had a luxuriant harvest as well. The largest Gala committee ever worked tirelessly to create an extraordinary event generating over $1 million dollars in support for the Priory. The Enchanted Forest delighted us all thanks to the most gracious leadership of the Gala Chairs, Jennifer Youstra and Christy Occhipinti.
In the spirit of balance, on April 26th, we paused to reflect on the year-to-date to recognize and celebrate the goodness of all our parent volunteers at our third annual Volunteer Appreciation Brunch. An article on the VAB is in this issue.
Annual giving from our parent community this year hit an all time high. Every gift is important. Every gift makes a difference. Hearty thanks to our Annual Fund Class Chairs who generated early, enthusiastic support! For the first time, counting gifts and pledges, the Annual Fund goal was achieved before Thanksgiving.
There’s been new growth in the Development Department as well.
Melissa Barrow joined the staff in April as Associate Director for Annual Giving.
With 10 years of advancement experience, Melissa has worked for Sacred Heart Schools, Stanford University and most recently Presentation Center in Los Gatos.
Britta Brown, formerly Assistant Director of Development, brings 8 years
of university experience in member engagement and annual giving to her
new role as Associate Director for Marketing and Alumni Engagement.
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We are indeed fortunate for the incredible support of our parent community, our Board of Trustees, our beloved monks and our students–our hope and promise for the future.
We have all grown great together in wholesome synergy during this rainy season.
sunshine is back, shining on all that has been accomplished since the start of school. We are indeed fortunate for the incredible support of our parent community, our Board of Trustees, our beloved monks and our students–our hope and promise for the future.
With gratitude,
Suzanne Couch
Director of Development
D a i l y
Year-to-date rainfall in Portola Valley is 148.9% of normal according to weatherdb.com.
Year-to-date gifts to the Annual Fund are 132% of
what they were same time last year.
DEVELOPMENT