Ethical Culture Fieldston School
Annual Report 2011–2012
Inside 2 Making Our Ideals Real 4 Looking to the Future with Confidence 6 A Year of Progress: The Financial Update 8 Reaching New Heights: The Development Update 10 Celebrating Our Parent Volunteers 12 Celebrating Our Alumni Volunteers 14 Welcoming Our Newest Alumni: Class of 2012 College Choices 16 Donors to the ECF Annual Fund 38 Current Parent Giving by Class 48 Form VI Gift 50 Alumni Giving by Class 61 Parents of Graduates, Grandparents, and Friends 66 Faculty and Staff 67 Programmatic Gifts 68 Endowed Funds 69 Matching Gifts 70 Tribute Gifts 75 Felix Adler Circle 76 ECF’s Annual Benefit
This annual report reflects gifts made to the Ethical Culture Fieldston School from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy; should any error have occurred, please call the Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumni at (212) 712-6245 with any corrections.
Committed to academic excellence, progressive education, and ethical learning, the Ethical Culture Fieldston School has sustained the integrity of Felix Adler’s mission for over 130 years. Founded in 1878, it now serves 1,700 students on two campuses. Its two lower school divisions, Ethical Culture and Fieldston Lower, teach grades PreK through 5; Fieldston Middle teaches grades 6 through 8; Fieldston Upper teaches grades 9 through 12.
Annual Report 2011–2012
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Making Our Ideals Real My first year at ECF has been one full of learning and doing, guided by our shared mission and history. We examined foundational questions and identified aspirations, and we have much to be excited about as we launch the strategic planning process. In doing so, we will embrace our roots as we seek to enhance progressive education to meet the demands of the twenty-first century—through technology, multicultural and critical perspectives, interdisciplinary opportunities, and meaningful engagement with the world. At the beginning of the year, the board and I selected four areas of focus to inform our work: financial sustainability; academic excellence; leadership; communication and connection. I am pleased to report that we made great progress on all fronts. Access and affordability remained a high priority for us, and we worked diligently to contain costs while investing strategically in enhancements tied to our mission. While we maintained the lowest tuition increase in years for the 2012–2013 school year, we will offer over $11,000,000 dollars in financial aid to nearly 22% of our students, the largest sum ever and at the top of benchmark institutions. We continued to make excellent progress on environmental sustainability as well, and are on track to achieve a 30 percent reduction in our carbon footprint. On the operations front, we effectively managed a $1.4 million capital project budget, including a fund earmarked for deferred maintenance on both campuses. The NYSAIS Self-Study proved instrumental in putting the four divisions of the school into conversations with one another that were change-making. These conversations helped to free us to meet, engage, and grow with one another as we identified areas of growth for the year ahead, including curricular integration and faculty professional development and evaluation. We made strides to further integrate the PreK–12 experience by introducing a newly formed “Administrative Summit” at which principals and assistant principals of the four divisions met regularly to discuss curricular initiatives and best practices. Over the summer, we launched the first Progressive Teaching Institute for incoming teachers as well as any faculty member looking to hone his or her craft. Meanwhile, we were busy at work enhancing the foreign language curriculum, the sciences, and bringing ethics back to the core of our education. At EC, we launched a number of pilot programs in Spanish, including Sábados en Español (Spanish Saturdays) and this summer’s Juguemos en Español (Let’s Play in Spanish). We commissioned a feasibility study to renovate
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Ethical Culture Fieldston School
We successfully completed searches for two new principals—Rob Cousins at Ethical Culture and Laura Danforth at Fieldston Upper—who joined us in July. I am thrilled to have permanent and committed educators at the helm of each division who will work closely with me, sharing our vision for excellence in progressive education. Just as I was this year, they will be welcomed by a dynamic community that supports our mission wholeheartedly. As evidenced in the subsequent pages of this book, parents, alumni, grandparents, parents of graduates, faculty, staff, and friends enable us to remain leaders in progressive education through investments of time and treasure. Building on the momentum of last year, our focus in 2012–2013 will be on the strategic plan, a re-foundational moment for the school. We will embrace our school’s mission as we focus on key initiatives to make our ideals real, creating community by generating consensus regarding key directions for the future. We will continue our work to align curriculum between our four divisions with the goal of a seamless curriculum from PreK to 12; and we will launch curricular initiatives that address writing, science and innovation, foreign language and international enrichment, ethics, and technology.
Making Our Ideals Real
our science labs in FL and the high school, and this summer, a rooftop greenhouse was constructed at Ethical Culture, which will enrich the science curriculum for years to come. We will continue to make strides in all of these areas in 2012–2013.
“While we maintained the lowest tuition increase in years for the 2012–2013 school year, we will offer over $11,000,000 dollars in financial aid to nearly 22% of our students, the largest sum ever and at the top of benchmark institutions.”
I am fortunate to have had strong partners on the board of trustees and the administrative council to help guide and support me through my first year at ECF. Thank you to the P&T volunteers across the school for their partnership in educating all our children and for leading many community-building efforts. Board co-chairs, Laura Jacobs Blankfein ’71 and Tracy Chutorian Semler ’82, have been invaluable throughout the year; and I look forward to working with incoming co-chairs, Robert A. Pruzan ’81 and Paul Schnell ’72. And thank you to all the supporters of the annual fund and to the volunteers who have reached out to share the philanthropic message of our school. Thank you all for welcoming me to the school this year; I look forward to serving the community next year and for years to come.
Damian J. Fernandez
Head of School Annual Report 2011–2012
3
Looking to the Future with Confidence As we conclude our fourth and final year as co-chairs of the ECF board of trustees, we are confident that we have helped to ensure the school’s well-being into the future by hiring our new head of school, Damian Fernandez. His passion for our mission, boundless energy, intelligence and creativity will be instrumental in guiding this institution forward in the years ahead. Collaborating with Damian to lay the groundwork for next year’s strategic planning process has been invigorating, and we look forward to supporting his work, and that of the new board co-chairs, in the coming years. A key priority for us over the past four years has been to strengthen and re-energize the board in order to help guide our school into this next chapter. We made strides in diversifying our board and its committees in terms of professional expertise, gender, race, and ethnicity and have worked hard to create a deep bench ready for effective board work in the future. We have also worked to strengthen the experience of board service itself. We implemented an annual board self-evaluation, and, inspired by the rich progressive education that we offer in our classrooms, we held specially-themed, interactive and engaging board meetings. Topics included the changing demographics of the U.S. and of New York City, progressive curricular initiatives at Fieldston such as the interdisciplinary program City Semester, and enhancing observational and perceptual skills. With Felix Adler’s founding mission in mind, we worked with the finance committee and the committee on enrollment and financial aid to increase the portion of our budget devoted to financial aid. Despite a very challenging economic climate, total dollars allocated to financial aid have increased by over $3 million in the past five years, and in the 2012–2013 academic year, ECF will offer an unprecedented $11.4 million in financial aid. Ours is the largest commitment of dollars to financial aid among our peer schools. We have also focused on addressing the hidden costs of an ECF education, and joined with our enrollment and financial aid committee to conduct a survey of our peer schools’ approach to expenses such as school trips, books and supplies, and transportation. As a result of our efforts, the lower schools are now fully inclusive, and the middle and upper schools are getting closer to this goal as we build some of these significant costs into tuition while at the same time providing support for these expenses to students on financial aid.
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Ethical Culture Fieldston School
We are thrilled to welcome the next board co-chairs, Robert Pruzan ’81 and Paul Schnell ’72, who have worked tirelessly as co-chairs of the board’s finance committee and members of the executive committee. Robert has played a key role in the school’s budget process and has helped map financial aid funding into the future, while Paul deftly led the inclusive search for Damian. The board and school are fortunate to have their leadership going forward. We thank our fellow trustees, including our honorary trustees, whose wise counsel enabled us to steer through some challenging times in the past four years. Thank you to all of the hardworking administrators who have served on our board committees and supported our work. Thank you to our dedicated non-trustee committee members, including many faculty members, who gave of their time and expertise to further the school’s goals. Thank you to the incredible ECF community for your contribution of time, ideas, enthusiasm, and treasure. And finally, thank you to Damian, for your unwavering commitment to ECF’s mission; partnering with you has made our “senior” year wonderfully fulfilling. We have been honored to serve as board co-chairs, and look forward to continuing to support the work of the board and the school we love in the years to come.
Laura Jacobs Blankfein ’71
Tracy Chutorian Semler ’82
Co-Chair, ECF Board of Trustees
Co-Chair, ECF Board of Trustees Annual Report 2011–2012
Looking to the Future with Confidence
The development committee, working closely with the Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumni, had a groundbreaking year. Donations to the annual fund reached an all-time high, with members of the community contributing over $3.7 million in unrestricted support for ECF’s mission. We are extremely proud of the levels of parental and alumni participation in annual giving (79 percent for parents, 20 percent for alumni, respectively), without which the school could not thrive. Additionally, the 2012 annual benefit was a tremendous success. Over 1,000 members of the ECF community gathered at Pier 60 in New York City and, together raised over $1,100,000 to support ECF’s mission, including $325,000 for financial aid. It was an extraordinary community-wide effort.
“Donations to the annual fund reached an all-time high, with members of the community contributing over $3.7 million in unrestricted support for ECF’s mission.”
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A Year of Progress: The Financial Update The year 2011–2012 was filled with exciting initiatives and milestones at the school. Under the leadership of Damian Fernandez, we focused on key mission-advancing priorities such as financial sustainability and affordability, leadership in environmental practices, and physical plant improvements. The school produced a balanced budget for the 2011–2012 fiscal year, allowing for mission-focused developments on a number of fronts. We awarded a total of $10.8 million in tuition assistance to 22% of our students, and financial aid policies were enhanced to cover books and supplies for middle and upper school students. Meanwhile, we carefully managed operational expenses while increasing professional development opportunities, and are pleased that tuition for the year ahead reflects our lowest increase in over a decade. The school continues to make progress in our environmental sustainability efforts. Initiatives in 2011–2012 included receiving official certification for our cafeterias as three-star green restaurants by the Green Restaurant Association. High efficiency water-
ENDOWMENT
$80,000,000
$9,987,000
$9,335,000
$4,000,000
$6,612,000
$6,000,000
$8,099,000
$8,000,000 $7,496,000
$65,280,000
$65,184,000
$55,571,000
$30,000,000
$49,515,000
$40,000,000
$58,445,000
$50,000,000
$60,996,000
$60,000,000
$10,000,000
$10,800,000
$70,000,000
Financial Aid
$12,000,000
$20,000,000 $2,000,000
$10,000,000
2011–2012
2010–2011
2009–2010
2008–2009
2007–2008
$0
2006–2007
2011–2012
2010–2011
2009–2010
2008–2009
2007–2008
6
2006–2007
$0
Investment Income $2,975,000 – 5%
Related & Auxiliary Programs $2,500,000 – 4%
Technology $1,667,000 – 3%
Facility Services $8,275,000 – 13%
Tuition & Fees $53,500,000 – 85%
Fiscal Services $1,406,000 – 2% Related & Auxiliary Programs $1,293,000 – 2%
Instruction/ Pupil Support $23,100,000 – 37%
Endowment $592,800 – 8%
Programmatic Funds $1,065,371 – 14%
Employee Benefits $10,800,000 – 18% Administration/ Operations $13,802,000 – 22%
Total Operating Revenue $62,475,000
Annual Fund $3,712,915 – 49%
Special Events $1,102,377 – 14%
Total Operating Expenses $61,880,000
Promises to Keep $1,168,200 – 15%
Total Giving $7,641,663
heaters, vegan and locally-sourced food options, zero VOC (volatile organic compound) paints and coatings, and composting all led to this certification. ECF is the only Pre-K–12 school in the country to receive the three-star rating, securing our position as a national leader in green dining. Physical plant and facilities improvements were also made during the year, including renovations of classrooms and public areas, and deferred maintenance projects. We continued to address ADA access on both campuses, most notably creating handicapped accessible entrances to the 100s and 400s buildings in the upper school over the summer. None of these financial and operational achievements would have been possible without the tremendous support and commitment from all of the committees of the board. Thank you to Nino Magliocco, audit committee chair; John Beres ’81, buildings and grounds committee chair; Robert Pruzan ’81 and Paul Schnell ’72, finance committee chairs; and John Feingold, investments committee chair.
A Year of Progress: The Financial Update
Unrestricted Giving $3,500,000 – 6%
Interest Expense $1,537,000 – 3%
Michael Hwang
Chief Financial Officer Annual Report 2011–2012
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Reaching New Heights: The Development Update ECF’s fundraising efforts once again soared to new heights in the 2011–2012 fiscal year, thanks to the generosity of the entire ECF community. In total, ECF received over $3.7 million in gifts to the Annual Fund from over 2,500 donors, in addition to over $1.1 million raised through the benefit. These results would not have been possible without the tireless dedication of the many parents, students, alumni, faculty and staff who partner with the Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumni throughout the year. Thank you to all of our volunteers, and to all of the members of the community who generously support ECF’s mission year after year. ECF Reaches New Record in Parent Participation Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our Parent Annual fund Volunteer Effort (PAVE), the ECF Annual Fund had a record-breaking year in terms of parent participation and total dollars raised. Our PAVE volunteers worked tirelessly throughout the year to increase participation in the annual fund, writing personal notes, making phone calls, and sending emails. Their efforts resulted in an increase in parent participation to 79%, a 3 percentage point increase from the previous year. We are thankful to our many volunteers, as well as our parent donors, for helping to make this our best annual fund campaign to date!
Alumni Volunteers The Alumni Volunteer Network had another packed year and our community benefited from the tireless efforts of many alumni volunteers. Alumni turned out in droves to support Homecoming, the Annual Fund Benefit, Phone-a-Thons and delivered a record number of class notes.
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Ethical Culture Fieldston School
In March, the Alumni Volunteer Network supported the Class of 2013’s Special Olympics competition at Fieldston. With the help of our many loyal and tireless volunteers, alumni participation in the annual fund reached a record 20%. In addition, ECF won the Hilltop Challege for alumni annual fund participation. Thanks to all the alumni volunteers who helped in this year and participated in programs across ECF!
ECF Community Raises Additional $250,000 through Matching Challenge This fall, a group of anonymous donors came together to boost support for ECF by offering up to $250,000 to match new and increased gifts to the annual fund. The response from the ECF community was overwhelming. In just one month, 177 donors increased their gift from last year by a total of $127,000, while 249 new donors made gifts totaling $236,000! These additional gifts have directly benefited our students, faculty, and staff by providing vital support for the ECF Annual Fund.
Celebrating the City and ECF This year’s benefit was ECF’s most successful to date, raising over $1.1 million to support the school’s mission. On March 10, 2012, over 1,000 members of the ECF community gathered at Chelsea Piers to celebrate our wonderful city and school. Guests were treated to the flavors of New York while bidding on a wide selection of live, silent, and “Metro Mystery” prizes. At the conclusion of the live auction, members of the community rallied together to raise over $325,000 to support tuition assistance during the “Big Give” for financial aid. As always, the benefit was a wonderful celebration of ECF’s amazing community.
Alumni Reunion Success! Fieldston alumni from classes ending in 2 and 7 turned out in record numbers for this year’s quinquennial reunions. Over 500 Fieldston alumni and their guests turned out for a gorgeous June evening filled with reminiscing and good times. Alumni toured the campus by way of an interactive self-guided tour, enjoyed cocktails on the sun-drenched quad and dinner with their classmates. The 2012 reunions proved to be inspiration for many to give back, as all of our reunion classes meaningfully increased their annual fund participation and, in total, contributed $378,473.
generosity of the
100%
Class of 2012 Establishes Financial Aid Fund
Fieldston Lower Pre-K and First Grade Reach 100% Participation
Before marching across the stage at graduation, the Class of 2012 worked together to leave behind a legacy that will help support future generations of Fieldston scholars. Both students and their parents contributed, and in total, the class raised more than $156,000 to support financial aid, with over 70% of families contributing to this meaningful gift.
In June, a group of donors issued a challenge for ECF’s parent community: for each grade that achieved 100% participation, the donors would provide an additional $2,500 to support ECF’s Annual Fund. We are thrilled to announce that Fieldston Lower’s Pre-K and First Grade both reached 100% participation, earning $5,000 to support ECF’s mission!
Parent Participation
100%
Alumni Participation
ECF community, contributions to the annual fund have increased steadily over the last few years.
Annual FUnd Contributions
$4,000,000
20%
19%
16%
14%
$500,000
2012
2011
$0
2010
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2012
2011
2010
2009
0%
$3,400,000
$1,000,000
20%
2008
0%
2009
$1,500,000
20%
20%
$2,930,000
40%
2008
$2,000,000
$2,860,000
79%
76%
$2,500,000
60%
54%
40%
73%
68%
60%
$3,000,000
$3,240,000
80%
$3,700,000
$3,500,000 80%
Annual Report 2011–2012
Reaching New Heights: The Development Update
Thanks to the
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