Preliminary Campaign Case for Support
Introduction
Saint Anne’s Day School is exploring the next chapter in its legacy of joyful, playbased learning through a potential capital campaign. In this early phase, we are inviting feedback on a draft vision that includes reimagined outdoor playscapes and a strengthened endowment to ensure long-term sustainability. Your insight as a valued member of our community will help shape the future of a school grounded in love, inquiry, and connection.
“There are three teachers of children: adults, other children, and their physical environment.”
– Loris Malaguzzi, founder of the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education
Our Mission
A ministry of Saint Anne’s Episcopal Church, the Day School strives to cultivate a nurturing, enriching environment for children, families, and educators, promoting a collaborative learning community of creative inquiry and loving relationships. The Day School is faithfully grounded in the belief that all children are a unique gift from God, full of infinite potential and loved for who they are and who they will become.
Saint Anne’s offers the highest standards of quality early childhood education. In an environment of love and respect, each child has the opportunity to expand his/her concept of the world. Our wellrounded program provides for developmentally appropriate growth emotionally, cognitively, socially, and physically, as well as spiritually.
Our educational practices encourage a spirit of inquiry in a creative learning environment while satisfying developmental and learning standards that build a strong foundation, upon which future growth can readily build. Most of all, Saint Anne’s Day School wants children to know that they are persons of worth, acceptable and lovable just as God made them. Having a good self-concept and the opportunity to learn in a developmentally appropriate environment are gifts that last a lifetime. Saint Anne’s Day School is part of a network of schools throughout the U.S. who are inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education.
Continuing to Foster Exploration, Creativity and Connection
Children are naturally curious, imaginative, and eager to explore their world. A well-designed playground is more than just a place to play it is an essential space for inquiry, collaboration, and growth.
Saint Anne’s is considering how we might transform our outdoor environments to better align with our educational philosophy and create experiences that:
Encourage curiosity and independent thinking
Reinforce Saint Anne’s strong sense of community and connection
Foster creativity through open-ended materials and nature-based play
Support cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development
This vision centers around reimagining our two primary outdoor spaces: the "Big Playground" and the "Little Playground" developed in collaboration with landscape design firm C.O.R.E. (Children Outdoors Ready to Explore).
Project Details
Big Playground Estimated Total $1,425,000
Due to its overall size and variety of terrains, the “Big Playground” project features three distinct areas inspired by the natural terrain of our space.
1) Bird’s Eye Peak (Estimated $500,000)
The upper observation area will be called “Bird’s Eye Peak”. This area will be home to the entryway, a fossil dig, loose parts play, atelier, mud area, a stone fort, Slide Hill, The Lookout, S.T.E.A.M. stations, a discovery trail, a water feature, and Anne’s Treehouse.
2) The Delta (Estimated $400,000)
The central area, with its low laying land, will be called “The Delta”. This area of the playground was designed with the K-5 Afterschool program and the Saint Anne’s Terrace residents in mind and will be home to a basketball court, pickleball court, gaga ball pit, a small seating area, a trike track, trike storage and a large community gathering space visible from the Terrace veranda.
3) Shady Meadows (Estimated $525,000)
Finally, the wooded area that runs along the base of the playground will be called “Shady Meadows”. This terrain will include the Tree Swings, sensory play stations, a large boulder climb and the Fallen Forest. This life-sized carved concrete tree will create a climbing element with several sections of the tree laying throughout the meadow.
Little Playground Estimated Total $475,000
Nestled into a shady nook of the school’s landscape, the Little Playground is designed with our youngest children in mind. It’s low and shaded terrain, geological cross sections of the area, and local rock formations inspired the playscape’s overall design concept. C.O.R.E. designed an overall playscape plan as well as updates and additions to the gardens surrounding the playground area.
1) Infant Toddler Playscape (Estimated $275,000)
The entrance to the playscape will feature two large arching concrete trees and a storage area for daily needs. As you move into the space you will cross a meandering mosaic splash creek and slight bridge element. Directly off the entrance will be an updated Atelier space with visual arts and sound exploration spaces. The wooded area will become a functional part of the playscape with the addition of an exploration boardwalk with viewing features. As you move through the playscape you will encounter a large fossil dig, stone fort, tree-inspired swings and a large rockslide climbing element. On the surrounding walls of the playscape you will find updated retaining walls. They will feature texturally themed concrete and stone mosaics inspired by a geological cross section of the local landscape.
Finally, you will enter The Sensory Cave. The exterior of the cave will feature hand carved concrete rockwork and a sensory trail leading into this shaded fort area. The interior of the cave will not only be a quiet resting place from the activity of the playscape, but also an explorative experience of textures, colors, and materials.
2) Garden Additions (Estimated $200,000)
The gardens that surround the playscape will also be updated. The ever-popular trike track will be expanded with additional loops and exciting new features including a tunnel and a storybook bridge. The firepit and garden areas will be elevated with stone/rock additions and a new stage area will be created along the fence edge. Finally, the multilevel treehouse will receive some S.T.E.A.M.inspired additions.
The new playscapes, as well as the updated surrounding gardens, will bring a cohesive design to all of Saint Anne’s outdoor spaces. Together, these playscapes would reflect the same intentionality and beauty seen inside classrooms, extending our learning environment into nature.
