Open Their World Spring 2025 Newsletter

Page 1


By the Numbers pledged as of the Fall 2024 Newsletter. pledged to date.

$97,143,598 $101,859,015

campaign goal.

$125,000,000

214

249 campaign donors to date. campaign donors as of Fall 2024.

Exciting Progress: Our Campus Modernization Construction Update

At Castilleja, we are witnessing an incredible transformation where Spieker Field once stood, all while the school year progresses as usual across campus! Following the completion of Phase 1, the school will begin the much-anticipated construction of our new academic building.

Stephanie Chen P’26, Trustee and co-chair of the campaign, says, “The reimagined campus will finally match the way we are teaching and students are learning in the 21st century. This campaign’s lasting legacy will be the future generations of young women who learn to lead on the new campus.”

Modernized facilities will not only support the Castilleja education as we know it today, but will help attract and retain top students and faculty and enhance the overall reputation of the school, benefitting our alumnae as well.

Since breaking ground in September, we have accomplished the following:

• Through impressive feats of engineering, several mature oak trees were relocated from around the future garage entrance. Now in temporary locations during construction, the trees will be replanted at the end of Phase 1.

• The construction crew dug out ramps and exits on Bryant and Emerson Streets and shored these areas, reinforcing the sides of the pit with concrete slurry, wooden lagging, and steel beams.

• To enhance the stability of the excavation site, steel tiebacks were installed, reinforcing the walls of the future parking garage.

• Rectangular holes were dug then filled with concrete where the structural columns will be built. Work continues six days a week!

“While learning on the temporary campus amid construction will be part of the Castilleja experience for the next few years, the end result is going to make an incredible difference for all of our students. In the meantime, we will prioritize the student experience throughout the project and will take full advantage of the construction site for hands-on learning,” says Laura Zappas, Head of the Middle School.

What’s Next: Shaping Casti Village and Reimagining Campus Spaces

Once the parking garage is completed, we will build our temporary campus, Casti Village, to serve as the school’s temporary home for the duration of Phase 2.

When we began to consider which elements would make Casti Village as great as possible, we focused on what makes Castilleja great to begin with. Our students, academics, and traditions help define the school, and will be provided for in thoughtful and meaningful ways.

Academics

The square footage of classroom space in Casti Village will be nearly equivalent to what is currently available on our campus, ensuring that our academic environment remains consistent in terms of classroom size.

In January, teachers from the Science Department, visited the Stevenson School on the Monterey Peninsula because Stevenson is currently using modular spaces while they remodel their STEM classrooms. The labs we will be using will have all of the features and equipment we have now. The chemistry lab will have a fume hood, lab stations, and individual work spaces, ample sinks, an eyewash, and a safety shower. For the physics and biology classrooms, there will be room for the equipment currently used in those classes, including but not limited to a PCR machine, electrophoresis equipment, and an autoclave. As we have now, there will be a dedicated prep room for teachers to prepare for their labs and for safe storage of chemicals, waste, and equipment.

Casti Village will extend beyond the temporary buildings to also encompass the Gunn Family Admin Building, the Elizabeth Hughes Chapel Theatre, and the Joan Z. Lonergan Fitness and Athletics Center. Certain areas of these existing buildings will be converted to classrooms, and others to faculty offices.

Students

In addition to labs and classrooms, the proposed plans for Casti Village include a hub for the Middle School and another for the Upper School, plus a dining room, a Maker Space to house the equipment from the Bourn Lab and the robotics lab, a library, the ACE Center, studio art rooms, a Learning Center for Academic Support, counseling and college counseling offices, and gathering spaces large and small for our students to enjoy, all while construction on the new academic building occurs on the other side of campus.

Traditions

Castilleja holds its many beloved traditions in high regard. Among these annual celebrations are Tie Ceremony and Opening Day, Ringing, Rivalry, Founder’s Day, and Commencement, plus on a weekly basis, senior speeches.

As we think about the design of Casti Village and the new campus, we will continue to invite the input of current students and families through surveys and conversations, to always be guided by what our community needs to thrive. Both Casti Village and the new campus will provide a nurturing environment that centers well-being, flexible spaces to accommodate various learning styles and foster collaboration, and spaces that encourage a sense of belonging and purpose.

Before: October 1

After: May 15

FAQs: Construction and Bond Financing

Who is leading the campus modernization project?

Castilleja’s internal team is led by Trustee and Chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, Allison Koo ’98 P’32, with Trustee Ed Chan P’22 ’25. The school is partnering with the general contractor Truebeck to deliver sustainable, state-of-the-art facilities that strengthen our program, while also incorporating ways to create efficiencies across the project, to ensure Castilleja’s funds and our donors’ contributions are spent as prudently as possible.

How is the school paying for the project?

Ambitious projects take bold investments from those who have confidence in the outcome, and we are fortunate to have many such contributors already. Generous donors have committed over $100 million to the capital campaign toward the school’s goal of $125 million.

In addition, last fall, prior to breaking ground, the school took on debt in the form of long-term municipal bond financing to support construction. Unlike other independent schools, Castilleja had not carried debt in the past. With our “A” credit rating, we were able to borrow $75 million in long-term debt plus $35 million in bridge financing. The $35 million in bridge financing is expected to be repaid from capital campaign collections–giving us the opportunity to further reduce the debt carried by the school if the campaign exceeds its goal.

What is bridge financing?

Bridge financing is debt with a high degree of prepayment flexibility that will help finance construction as donors are fulfilling their pledges in annual installments over the next five years. Many families who have contributed have given their largest philanthropic gift ever to this campaign, and have the option to fulfill their pledges over time. The bridge loan will enable the school to spend now and repay that portion as we collect pledge payments moving forward.

What are the terms of the bond?

The bond is to be repaid over 30 years. Bonds are debt securities sold to investors in the public market, while bank loans (such as mortgages) are direct loans from a financial institution. Our bond offering was priced at a fixed rate for 30 years below 4.10%. Municipal bond investors signaled confidence in the school, and investor orders to buy bonds exceeded the bonds being offered, leading to “oversubscription.” This oversubscription was leveraged to reduce the school’s interest rate. While the terms of the bonds are favorable, we remain focused on meeting or exceeding our fundraising goals to reduce the amount of debt carried by the school.

We are fortunate to have a multifaceted plan, with both capital campaign contributions and the financing, to fully realize the school’s vision!

How are capital campaign gifts used?

Capital campaign gifts are restricted to the capital project. When donors contribute to our annual initiatives, the Annual Fund or View360, those dollars are not used for the construction.

The capital campaign’s success is about much more than the amount we raise; it is truly about the level of participation across our entire community and the ripple effect of building a new campus that finally matches the excellence of our program.

Below: Casti Village. Right: architectural rendering of the new Middle School Hub

$100 Million and Counting

This past winter, Castilleja reached a significant and exciting milestone: we surpassed $100 million for Open Their World: The Campaign for Castilleja, thanks to 234 donors (now 249 donors). Through gifts of $100, $100,000, and $20 million, our community is stepping up to support the school’s vision for the future.

Past and current parents, grandparents, alumnae, employees, and friends of the school helped bring us to this defining moment in Castilleja’s history. We can’t build the new campus without the generosity of even more members of the community, and we are confident that more donors will join in the effort and participate during the home stretch.

First gift to the campaign

Cindy and Evan Goldberg P’17 in 2017

Number of alum donors

Largest group gift

Number of anonymous donors

Donors who gave estate gifts

Alums from the Class of 1964 whose pooled contributions will name a conference room in memory of classmate Cynthia Swanson Miller ’64, who passed away in 2022. 91 10 5

Largest gift to the campaign

The largest single gift to any independent school in the Bay Area.

Class of 1964

Pictured at left: Cindy Goldberg P’17, Sue KimHA, Mary Speiser P’20 ‘22, Anjali Pichai P’21, and Sarah Sands P’16 ‘19 at the groundbreaking ceremony last fall. Above: Class of 1964 group photo from the 1964 yearbook.

Donors to Open Their World—The Campaign for Castilleja

We recognize and thank all members of our community who are championing the campus transformation with their capital campaign giving. Our newest donors, since the fall newsletter, are shown in red, below.

$20 million and above

Mary Speiser and Mike Speiser P’20 ’22

$10,000,000–$19,999,999

Carol and John Giannandrea P’21

$5,000,000–$9,999,999

Anonymous

Cindy and Evan Goldberg P’17

John A. Sobrato Sr.

$2,500,000–$4,999,999

Heidi Hopper and Jeffrey Dean P’13 ‘17

Rah Mansoor and Pedram Keyani P’29 ’31

Anjali and Sundar Pichai P’21

$1,000,000–$2,499,999 Anonymous (1) Anonymous (5)

Sybilla and Alexandre Balkanski P’18

Pree Basaviah and Venky Ganesan P’21 ’23

Simone and Tench Coxe P’20

The Estate of Madeline Ehrman ’60

Theresia Gouw P’21

Jaynie and Bill Kind P’09

Jamaica and Jay Kreps P’28 ’30

Kate Li and Jianming Yu P’20

Becky Long and Ken Hirsch P’17 ’19

The Magic Beans

Linda and Jim McGeever P’21

The Estate of Adrienne Hiscox Mitchell ’44

Penny Pritzker ’77 and Bryan Traubert

Sarah and Greg Sands P’16 ’19

The Estate of Helen and Robert Sturges P’75

$500,000–$999,999

Diana Alvarez Kaba and Armando Mann P’28

Toni Cupal and Mike Volpi P’18

Nancy Kedzierski and Gordon Chaffee P’26

Jennifer and David Ko

Yan Liu and JieFu Zhang P’19

Christine O’Sullivan and James Bean P’21

Paula and Michael Rantz P’13

Nipa and Beerud Sheth P’22

Andrea Navarro Sobrato ’08 and John Sobrato

$250,000–$499,999

Anonymous

Sher Amos-Grosser and Adam Grosser P’18

The Estate of Sreyashi Jhumki Basu ’94

Joyce Bogner Bohn ’72

Ashley and John Chambers

Patti and Edward Chan P’22 ’25

Tina Chen and Anthony Lin P’27 ’29

Lori and Brian Goler P’21 ’25

Noriko Honda and Norman Chen P’21

Michele and Steve Kirsch P’12 ’20

Yidrienne Lai and Chris Chang P’26 ’28 ’31

Gab and Thomas Layton P’18 ’23

The Estate of Diane Cory McNiel ’56

Viola Mong Meehan ’82

Jennifer Newstead and Alex Mishkin P’26

Olivia Nottebohm and T.J. Rylander P’28

Leyla and David Scott P’20

Polly Tam and Hsien-Chung Woo P’18

Jessica and Chris Varelas P’21

Petra Wright and Steve Dowling P’24

Amanda and Zac Zeitlin P’24

Nila Yeung and Kenneth Ng P’29

$100,000–$249,999

Alison and Edward Abbo P’19

Iké and Ore Adeyemi

Reena and Raj Agrawal P’28

Kathryn Bojack and Ravi Mhatre P’17

Beaky Chan and Gregory Haardt P’28 ’30

Stephanie and Sherwin Chen P’26

Nandini and Mathews Cherian P’23

Carolyn Choi and Jeffrey Wong P’24

B.J. Lockhart Cowie ’54 and William Cowie Jr.

Hala Kurdi Cozadd ’92 and Bruce Cozadd

Helen Cui and Yi Huang P’30

Sara and Brian Elkin P’23

Susan Fleischmann and Mark Brazeal P’29

Steve Franklin P’03

Sean and Anna Glodek P’28 ’30

Christine and Shane Goudey P’29

Shari and Andrew Guggenhime P’20 ’22

Suzan Halabi and Anas Osman P’27

Brooke Heckert and Michael Linse P’22 ’25

Elizabeth and Patrick Heron P’21

Seyonne Kang and Scott Johnston P’27

Teresa and Brian Kelleher P’23

Hanna and Dong Kim P’31

Ning and Lexin Li P’27

Aileen Lee and Jason Stinson P’24

Margaret Osborn Munzig ’97 and Peter Munzig

Usha and Diaz Nesamoney P’19

Suzanne and Eric O’Brien P’21

Fang Fang and Jeff Paulson P’31

Aarthi Prabhakar and Ganesh Srinivasan P’27 ’30

Nirmala Ramarathnam and Jay Venkataramani P’27

$50,000–$99,999

Anonymous

Claire and Tim Burks P’23

Cindy Chen and Bob Kocher P’25 ’26

Nam Cho and Nate Gallon P’26

Marcie and Gregg Farano P’26 ’30

Sheridan and David Foster P’19

Maggie Pringle Grauer ’71

Nidhi Gupta and Bhaskar Himatsingka P’27

Nanci KauffmanHA and Scott Kauffman P’06

Sarah Kimball and Bryan Mazlish P’29

Esther and Michael Lee P’30

Gerry Marshall

Susan Packard Orr ’64

Barb and Gregory Rosston P’12

Steve Rosston P’16

Melanie Vinson P’23

Jackie Wong and Albert Hong P’30

$25,000–$49,999

Amy and Jeff Bonforte P’31

Saima Hasan ’04 and Sharjeel Hasan

Cary Golub Lurie ’64

Shweta and Amish Mehta P’29

Laurie and Duco Pasmooij P’20 ’22 ’24

Amy Rao and Harry Plant

Tenley Stephenson and John Pimentel P’21’29

Alyssa Rieder and Eric Byunn P’20 ’23

Angela Song and Ammar Maraqa P’26

Cathy and Tod Spieker P’97 ’99

Diana Sunshine and William Onderdonk P’19 ’23

Mahjabeen and Tarim Wasim P’29

Sarah and Karl Wiley P’26

Chenyu Wu and Yan Li P’31

Grace and David Yuan P’26

Nazhin Zarghamee and Kourosh Gharachorloo P’23

Jie Zheng and Alex Wu P’30

Linhong Zhu and Dingxiong Deng P’30

Varsha and Pradeep Tagare P’22

Kathleen and Scott Tandy P’15

Mariko and Phillip Yang P’17 ’22

$10,000–$24,999

Anonymous

Shelli Ching and Rowland Cheng P’15

Mahooya Dinda and Michel Del Buono P’25

Elizabeth Douglas and Evan Hurowitz P’27

Shirley Ely P’71

The Priscilla Endicott Charitable Foundation

Odette Harris and Edward Sharp P’22 ’24

Esther Kletter P’91

Anne Biaggini Krattebol ’64

Lisa and David Merenbach P’09 ’11 ’14

Robert “Buff” Miller & MSNQS Family

Parinaz Mohamadi and Mostafa Ronaghi P’29

Jessica Pan-Beesley and Michael Beesley P’24

Denise and Mike Pope P’14 ’17

Melissa Riofrio ’85

Jennie Tung and Derrick Lee P’28 ’30

Nancy Tuck P’17

Eugenie Van Wynen and Chris Markesky

Lisa Kitayama Wallgren ’94 and Markus Wallgren P’27

Huisheng Wang and Yinqing Zhao P’24

$5,000–$9,999

Dana and Brian Ascher P’24

Brittany Brown Chavez ’06

Cheryl Hertzog Coleman ’64

Janet Mauel Cronk ’64

Nayna and Gambhir Kaushek P’21

Lindsay Austin Louie ’98 and Ting Louie

Bradley Quarton and Seri Nakazawa

Mia and Jose Rocha P’26

Anne and Richard Schmidt

Pratima Sethi ’94 and Amaury Bellemans P’27 ’29

Tom Stephenson

Jennifer Taylor-Mendoza and James Carranza P’21

Eric Temple

Katrina Wollenberg

$1,500–$4,999

Megan Jones Bell ’00

Diane Brooks Dixon ’69 and Patrick Dixon

Jeffie Welsh Feakins ’64

Pat Hunter Gregory ’64

Denise Kaufman ’64

Zander Lurie and Kristin Vogelsong

Carla Roth ’65

Michaele Roth Thunen ’64

Elizabeth Yin ’00

Gail Wilson Zetter ’64

Up to $1,499

Anonymous

Bonnie Eggink Allen ’64

Eliza Becker

Audre Brokes ’81

Marilyn Katz Caine ’80

Anna and Tony Carrasco

Wendy Carrel ’65

Veronica Chiu ’81

Kelly Conway ’90

Janet Cox ’64

Ellen Curtis ’64

Maria Cristina Lerche de Balestra ’64

Amanda Dillon DeLuca ’10

Rachelle and Scott Doorley P’26 ‘29

Lorraine Duval and David Cardinal P’11

Janey Manuel Edwards ’64

Riley Guggenhime ’20

Cherri Linderman Gurney ’64

Libby Swindells Hulsey ’80

Talia Kertsman ’18

Allison Koo ’98

Molly Ledwith ’16

Jennifer Lee ’95

Barbara MacCornack Leutwiler ’64

Samantha Levison ’10

Amber Lombard ’10

Jason Lurie

Pamela Schaap MacKean ’64

Fiona Maloney-McCrystle ’13

Jeannine Marston HA and Ted Marston P’89 ’94

Charise Hale McHugh ’70

Alanna McNaughton ’14

Anne Kelly Mellenthin ’80

Stephanie Merenbach ’11

Tania Montoya ’06

Ellen Stewart Moore ’80

Fay Jones Nestlerode ’64

Emily Colvin O’Malley ’10

Seana McNamara Oliver ’06

Laura Golub Overett ’68

Claire Patterson ’12

Shanti Perkins ’90

Pamela Johnson Pollack ’91

Molleigh Preefer ’10

Sarah Morris Pullen ’64

Eleanor Rakonitz P’87

Elizabeth Sellman Redman ’63

Sandra Pearson Shlapak ’64

Lauren Sibley ’20

Martha Huff Smiland ’64

Leslie Cardozo Stafford ’93

An MacKenzie Standing ’64

Sarah Rakonitz Stein ’87

Lindsay and John Sterling P’24

Rachel Sussman ’93

Sarah Sussman ’90

Lee Taubeneck

April and George Triantis P’19 ’21

Eileen Tse ’90

Kathryn and Eric Verwillow P’15

Giuliana Danon Vural ’75

Suzanne and Robert Washburn P’77 ’80

Elizabeth Gage Weber ’64

Christina Hulden Westmoreland ’64

Helene Chandler Williams ’64

Susan Duncan Williams ’65

Kathy Mauel Wright ’68

Did

you know?

The signage around the current campus, honoring donors who have named classrooms, buildings, and other spaces in the past, will be preserved and featured in an installation on the new campus.

The success of Open Their World depends not only on many generous donors, but also on the strength of our campaign leadership. Thank you for demonstrating your belief in Castilleja’s mission, and in women leaders everywhere, through your service to the school.

Capital Campaign Steering Committee

Stephanie Chen P’26, Co-chair

Cindy Goldberg P’17, Co-chair

Jamaica Kreps P’28 ‘30

Sarah Sands P’16 ‘19

Mary Speiser P’20 ‘22

Zac Zeitlin P’24, Board Chair

Julia Russell Eells, Interim Head of School

Sue KimHA, Director of Advancement

Kathy LayendeckerHA, Associate Head of School, Finance and Operations

Caroline New ’01, Director of the Capital Campaign and Major Gifts

When you support Open Their World—The Campaign for Castilleja at any level, you are making an investment that affirms your belief in the power of women learning, women leading. everywhere, through your service to the school.

Pictured below: Castilleja’s Upper School Presidents and Middle School Reps, left to right in descending grade order from 12th to 6th grade, visit the construction site. For more information or to make a gift, please visit opentheirworld.castilleja.org.

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