gail-grahams-letter

Dear Members of the Board of Trustees, Friday evening, three nights ago, I started receiving condolence emails regarding Breakthrough. I had no idea what they could possibly be referencing. In response to my questions I was sent a copy of Kelley's letter and one from Aldofo describing the board’s decision. I write to share my reactions to the news that you have voted to end Breakthrough at SCDS. It is literally beyond my comprehension how this decision could have been considered for months, as described in Kelley's letter, without your having reached out for help and input from those who know, love and have shepherded this remarkable program for decades. Funding is hard - there are and have always been challenges that obscure the opportunities. But in this situation you go to those who are passionately committed, knowledgeable about the model and have demonstrated support in the past to help solve the problems. The SCDS Breakthrough Family is over 23 years old! We have a deeply talented pool of former teachers, students and supporters that any school would covet as a wealth of resources!

How is it possible that you did not consult former heads of school who, during the Wendy Ross Era, navigated the challenges of funding the program? Why did you not reach out to former Directors, two of whom are still deeply involved with Breakthrough, and who have demonstrated commitment and support? You have a reservoir of stunningly accomplished students, teachers and supporters committed over decades to sustaining their program. Why were they not asked for input and support?

As founder and as someone intimately involved in the day-to-day support of Breakthrough through the tenure of two very talented and committed directors, Founding Director Heather Hughes and Laura Noyes Zahn, not only was I not consulted - I was not even a recipient of the Friday letters. Please tell me how it is possible that SCDS cashed my $10,000 check to Breakthrough over three weeks ago without even yet acknowledging its receipt? I assure you that in the Wendy Ross Era a check of similar magnitude would have resulted in a phone call from Dan, Selden or Steve within the hour of having opened that envelope.

Kelley’s letter explains that your decision was made months ago. My check to Breakthrough was clearly cashed under false pretenses and I request return of my donation immediately so I may redirect it to a competent school and individuals committed to the value and stewardship of Breakthrough.

I served as President of the SCDS Board of Trustees, concurrent with the tenure of 3 different Heads of School in junder 2 years - a distinction I sincerely hope is never matched. I mention this as a way of stating that controversy happens. Situations can seem intractable but if problems are earnestly, thoroughly and honestly addressed and there is the will to achieve a goal - it can be accomplished.

Sacramento Country Day School has a history of solving tough problems. Money/enrollment has always been a driving issue - long before Breakthrough. When money was tight I worked closely with Francey Tidey, the first great heroine of SCDS, who through her credibility, skill and commitment to then Summerbridge, helped to secure county funding through her non-profit College Horizons. Pat Duckhorn and Betty Flannery Peters, both highly revered former SCDS master teachers, helped us sustain that county support as state resources to low-income school students dwindled.

When the first Summerbridge students reached high school age, with the enthusiastic support of the full board and in particular former board presidents Jamie Nelson, Bob Earl and Grove Nichols, I started Classics, a retail store run totally by volunteers, including remarkable leaders like Sally Nichols and Julie Nelson, generating revenue for the first scholarships supporting Summerbridge students entering the high school.

Had you consulted SCDS teachers and administrators like Sue Nellis and Dan Neukom, who are able to speak knowledgeably and passionately about the cultural transformation Summerbridge/ Breakthrough created in the SCDS high school, you would know that there is a lot more at stake here than pissing off some donors by ending an “outreach” program. I wrote my 2005 Stanford Masters thesis on the life-shaping impact Breakthrough has on the students and the teachers and those in the radiating circles of contact. I interviewed dozens of participants in every capacity of relationship to the program. Honestly - “you (w)on’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”! If you want to fix this problem you have to start with those who know and care the most!

Some history you do not have:

In addition to chairing the Board Development and Building and Grounds committees for several years during the 16 years my three children attended SCDS, my first committee assignment was the Tuition Aid Committee.

Let me tell you what I learned from my teacher and trustee colleagues on this committee who had worked for years to increase diversity at SCDS, knowing that diverse life-experience materially enriches curriculum and classroom conversation. In essence, the student experience.

Before Summerbridge/Breakthrough, time and time again, tuition-support students admitted to the high school and middle school did not have the skill set to succeed. Study skills and social cues were critical to their success, and despite concerted efforts in mentoring and support by talented and committed teachers, the kids would fall behind. This was a grave disservice not only to the students themselves but also to their classmates and teachers. When one student fails to thrive there is an impact on the whole. Summerbridge/Breakthrough was the gold standard in developing these critical skills.

Be ready for history to repeat itself if you end Breakthrough, assuming that in fact the board and Head of School remain committed to the value diversity of life-experience brings to the SCDS classroom and school culture. The grit and grace these remarkably talented, tenacious and successful Breakthrough kids have brought to SCDS, plus the awakening of personal power inspired by the unprecedented responsibility the young teachers assume as mentors learning to teach, cultivate life long advocates for the value of education and social justice and changes minds and lives. These core values of an SCDS education are synergistically embodied in the Breakthrough curriculum. Ask former Trustee board president Anita Marmaduke and trustee Mouse Endicott how their children’s experience as Breakthrough teachers has affected their success as young adults. Ask them about the impact the program had on education at SCDS during their tenure.

Headmaster Dan White, being the leader he was, knew immediately when I took him and a few car loads of students and teachers to visit the original Summerbridge program at University High School in 1993, that this was the ultimate win-win solution to the challenge SCDS faced to enhance the learning experience of all students and to truly reflect the educational excellence and leadership SCDS espoused to the Sacramento community. Mentoring has a long history at SCDS and Dan was quick to see the value, integrity and continuity of older students teaching younger students.

While some high school teachers were initially and appropriately skeptical as to whether ‘Summerbridge' students could actually succeed in the rigor of the high school, the character and work ethic of those first students, now doctors and attorneys, educators, journalists and political leaders changed the dialogue in the classroom; their individual successes exceeded everyone’s expectations. The decades old bonds of friendship and trust made at Summerbridge/Breakthrough remain to this day. Ask SCDS alums Gustavo and JP Galindo who generously maintain their commitment to the success of the program.

Leadership transitions bring discontinuity and your role as stewards of the school is never greater than at times like these. You bear a challenging burden of responsibility for knowing or attaining the institutional knowledge to make this profoundly impactful decision an informed one. I ask that you to invest more time and commitment to get to the bottom of what is taking place.

Grove, in addition to being favorite friends for many years, I served with you and Sally through some very challenging SCDS history, adored you and your amazing girls and feel blessed to have you all in my life. You didn’t have first hand experience with Summerbridge but you know all the people of whom I speak and were always generous supporters. Billy, you also know me well, as occasional surrogate mom and a cheerleader for your ongoing success. Had you stayed for high school you could speak personally of the history and impact I describe. Kelley, infinitely talented student and role model, you too missed a front row seat to the cultural shift that occurred as a result of Breakthrough after you left for college. I know others of you only through Wendy’s respect and admiration for your generosity and commitment and I ask you now to go deeper and ask the questions that need to be asked before you kill this program.

Please start with the program costs provided in Kelly’s letter - they appear to include outside donations to Breakthrough as SCDS contributions to the program. This representation suggests to me, and to others, that the presenter(s) is/are biased against the program, inferring that this lumped together revenue could in fact be redirected to other SCDS programs. Obviously this is a distortion of reality and the true costs of the program.

My own personal experience as a donor and long time committed supporter, and statements made to me in the last 2 days regarding unacknowledged Breakthrough donations, suggest that either there are internal problems

that you do not understand and have an obligation to correct before making such a monumental decision, or that there is actual bias against the program. Here are examples of what I am told: “I received a solicitation in May or June but I did not respond because I never received acknowledgment for my contribution in 2013.”

From another person’s very recent experience, “I contacted SB Sacramento to see what was going on with the intention of making a donation . . . . It was strangely hard to give and to get information. When an email to the D(development) D(epartment) labeled 'interest in donation to Summerbridge' was not followed up, I eventually threw up my hands”.

I choose to believe that you as trustees do not want to go down in the annals of SCDS history as bearing responsibility for ending this iconic program. You owe it to the institution to which you have committed trusteeship, and to the decades of lives that have been forever inspired by this program, to be thorough in your scrutiny, doing everything you can to answer the questions posed. It is my opinion that this standard has not yet been met.

Sincerely, Gail Curtis Graham