A Community that Values, Celebrates, and Nurtures Philanthropy and Service

Message from Director of Advancement, Katharine Atkins

Each summer as we prepare this fall Perspectives magazine and Annual Report, I find myself amazed at the number of community members who choose to make Charlotte Country Day School a philanthropic priority each year. This issue celebrates the various ways our community gives back to our school, but quite frankly, every issue of Perspectives could champion this theme!

From new junior kindergarten and kindergarten families who lean in during the first months of their time at Country Day, to families like Louis ’77 and Suzanne Bledsoe, Mary Richardson, Jim and Bev Hance, and Henrietta Palmer ’77, who have supported the Country Day Fund for over 35 years, we are so very fortunate to be part of a community that values, celebrates, and nurtures a strong culture of philanthropy and service. Whether you’ve been a loyal supporter of Country Day for decades or made a first-time gift to the school this year, we are thankful you have made our school and our students a priority.

Country Day’s strong culture of service and philanthropy started generations ago, and we are grateful to all the parents, alumni, faculty and staff, grandparents, and friends of the school who choose to invest in our students and teachers year in and year out through their annual support and engagement.

Whether you’ve been a loyal supporter of Country Day for decades or made a first-time gift to the school this year, we are thankful you have made our school and our students a priority.

In addition to the depth of our Country Day Fund, we are indebted to some of the exceptional gifts that we received this year. First and foremost, we continue to be so grateful to Smoky and Margaret Bissell for the transformative gift of the Weddington Farm. The joy our students in all divisions have felt exploring the land, visiting with the goats, and spending time outside is palpable and profound. The energy and excitement our faculty and staff have channeled into educational and innovative possibilities will be realized over the next several years and beyond.

We also were fortunate to establish three new endowments this year that we profile on the following pages—the Jane and Carl Showalter Endowed Scholarship, The Joe Miller ’95 Memorial Scholarship, and an endowment enhancing, generous planned gift realized from the estate of Doris and John Miller.

Beyond the philanthropic contributions we share on the following pages, we also celebrate the countless ways our Country Day community consistently shows up to connect, nurture, and care for each other.

Thank you for your continued care and partnership. You, our Country Day family, make it a joy and privilege to be a part of this special community.

The donor rolls for the 1941 Society, Oak Society, and Country Day Fund are listed within this report. To see the listings for endowment, restricted giving, honorariums, memoriams, and gifts in-kind, please visit charlottecountryday.org/support/22-23-givingreport