Annual Report 2015

SMS ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 1

Annual Report 2014–2015

St. Margaret’s School | Confident girls. Inspiring women.

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Head’s Message

Chair’s Message

It has been three years since St. Margaret’s released its innovative Strategic Plan, and CATHY THORNICROFT its relevancy never HEAD OF SCHOOL wavers. The plan acts as a touchstone, recognizing our greatest areas of strength as a school, documenting strategies we know to be central to successful outcomes, and setting goals to ensure we continue to advance as a leader in girls’ education.

It gives me great pleasure to author this introduction to the first SMS Annual Report. As our school JEREMY MANNALL-FRETWELL continues to evolve and CHAIR, BOARD OF GOVERNORS grow, it is documents like this one that demonstrate our accountability, and I am excited to be part of what I hope is the first of many such annual reports.

In looking back on the 2014/2015 school year, SMS has made significant progress on its strategic goals and has much to be proud of: •

Formalizing our position as the first girls’ school in Canada with a STEM focus.

•

Establishing new community partnerships with Ocean Networks Canada, First Lego League, and Ladies Learning Code, among others.

•

Increasing our visibility in the community with our Red Blazer campaign.

•

Creating Special Places within the school, including the new Wellness Centre, student Art Gallery in the Learning Commons, and the Living Wall.

Looking ahead, I am confident in the initiatives we are working on this year to enhance girls’ learning.

This year’s Annual Fund presents a kind of rallying cry around our school’s vision. With its message, “I support confident girls,” we hope the campaign will galvanize the community’s commitment to our cause, and lay the groundwork for important work still to come in building the school’s Endowment Fund and creating a plan for campus renewal.

The school will also be working through our CAIS Accreditation over the coming months, a process that will provide opportunity to appreciate our strengths, identify areas needing attention, and create an action plan going forward.

In my time with the school I have learned that everyone has a story to share and that nothing connects people quite like a poignant idea, tale, or yarn. Last year, I was privileged to be part of many success stories and I hope to be a part of many more to come. I look forward to forging ahead on this journey together.

Your Board of Governors takes its responsibility for policy and financial oversight of the St Margaret’s School Society very seriously. We have the utmost confidence in Head of School Cathy Thornicroft and her team to deliver sound fiscal management while providing the highest caliber of education to the girls of St Margaret’s. We want to offer Cathy and her team our congratulations on another successful year and a job well done.

The Administration is also to be congratulated on how they have managed and balanced enrolment coming out of a year where we graduated our largest class ever.

While this is obviously a good news story, perhaps the better story was how the school was able to adjust to the departure of so many students at once. With an enrolment management plan predicated on creating a better balance between boarding and day students and a three year financial plan, the School has weathered the storm with flying colours and indeed, turned a challenge into an opportunity.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not make note of the progress the School has made on its strategic plan.

My personal involvement on the Strategic Planning Steering Committee has provided me with numerous opportunities to glimpse the vision that the School pursues and I am thrilled with what I see: there are confident girls all around us, and I know that they will be inspiring women just around the corner!

St. Margaret’s School (est. 1908) is an all-girls, independent, day and boarding school located in Victoria, BC, Canada.

MOTTO Servite In Caritate ~ Service with Love VISION Confident Girls. Inspiring Women.

MISSION Empowering her to set her own course and shape her own dreams.

READ OUR COMPLETE STRATEGIC PLAN ONLINE AT

www.stmarg.ca/strategic-plan

// ANNUAL REPORT 2014–2015 //

REVENUES 2015

REVENUES 2015

REVENUES

2014 2015 5% 4% 10,759,313 10,015,923 1% 5% 4% 2%1% 2% 110,007 168,215 168,915 153,261 548,165 531,692 557,267 473,244

Fees Donations School Store Government Grant Other Income2 1

Total (non-fee-related)

1,384,354

Total Revenues (all funds)

Other includes childcare grants and other government grants, tuition refund plan, interest, and misc income

26%

EXPENSES

2014 2015 7,395,794 7,468,993 2,957,413 2,837,504 739,409 694,519

Salaries and Benefits Materials and Services Amortization and other non-operating expenses Total Expenses (all funds)

11,092,616

Fees

Fees Donations

Donations

School store

School store

Government Grant Government Grant Other Income Other Income

88%

88%

11,342,335

Fees include a net effect of bursaries and discounts, and facility rentals

2

12,143,667

1

1,326,412

REVENUES 2015

EXPENSES 2015 2015 EXPENSES 6%

6%

EXPENSES 2015 SalariesSalaries and Benefits and Benefits

26%

Materials and Services Materials and Services

68%

68%

Amortization and other Amortization and other non-operating expenses non-operating expenses

11,001,016

CONTINGENCY FUNDS Planning for “rainy days” ensures stability in spite of fluctuations in enrolment or unbudgeted capital expenses, and flexibility to take advantage of strategic opportunities.

OPERATING RESERVE $418,000

CAPITAL RESERVE $240,000

ENDOWMENT RESERVE *NEW* $500,000

CONTINGENCY RESERVE $225,000

Enrolment

Donation Allocation

Admissions works tirelessly to discover and develop new markets for the school. Our students this year represented 12 nations: Canada, China, Mexico, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Trinidad, and the USA. Following the graduation of our largest class in history in 2014, the school decided to temporarily cap boarding in order to balance the day:boarder ratio among the student body.

The Annual Fund 2014–2015 exceeded its goal to raise a record $168,000. Donors chose to allocate their donation to one of a selection of funds. In the coming campaign, the Endowment Fund will be added as a selection and will be a point of focus for Donation Allocation development.

2015

218 216

126 127

TOTAL: 343

$47,226

The Head’s Fund

28% 47%

2014

232 232 -

50 50

100 100

TOTAL: 374

142 142 150 150 Day Day

200 200

250 250

Boarding Boarding

300 300

FINANCIAL DATA 2014–2015

Financial Report

350 350

400 400

$41,489

Scholarships & Bursaries

// ANNUAL REPORT 2014–2015 //

25%

Creating Special Places $79,500

Creating Scholarships/Bursaries Special Places The Head's Fund

SMS

Financial Highlights FINANCIAL REPORT

BY ELAINE BELL, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & CORPORATE SERVICES

Following our largest graduating class ever in June 2014, the gradual work to replace those exiting students began in 2015.

Our newly established Three Year Plan provided sound fiscal management and allowed us to finish off 2014/2015 better than predicted. Maintaining the quality of our programs and supporting initiatives throughout the school— such as the STEM focus from ECE to Grade 12, Explorations and Innovations, extracurricular opportunities, and the special speaker series—remained a priority for us during this time.

The financial direction of SMS requires creative and forward thinking to fuse the educational and business priorities of our great school.

To support the cohesiveness between Foundation and Senior Years we added a Vice Principal of Middle Years. We recognize the value of connectivity from JK – Grade 12 and tried to provide resources that allow for the growth and retention of our day population. The robustness of our Early Learning program has been a highlight this past year building connections between JK, Kindergarten and Grade 1, and linking into the strength of our curriculum goals in later grades.

In our Boarding Program, many positive changes have taken place creating a home-away-from-home experience with continuity of care in residence. We are continuing to build opportunities for day and boarding students to connect, ensuring our value of globalmindedness is celebrated across campus. Our admissions efforts include looking at the balance

by the numbers...

between our day and boarding students, and providing a more diverse mixture of cultures.

Our strategic direction over the coming years will include an Advancement initiative for campus renewal which will be aligned with our long range financial plan and our regular capital needs. As we build up enrolment over the next few years, we are confident that our efforts in creating value for families will allow us to balance the needs of operations and areas for expansion.

NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE PAST YEAR INCLUDE: •

Maintaining costs and programs at previous year’s level

•

Establishing an Endowment Reserve of $500,000

•

Forming a committee to begin the Campus Renewal process.

Moving forward, we are committed to developing an Endowment Fund that creates coverage firstly for Scholarships and Bursaries, Capital Spending, and, at the final stage, General Contingency Reserves. Although this is a 15 to 20 year goal, we believe an Endowment Fund is absolutely essential to our financial sustainability.

These are exciting times at SMS. Our thanks go to our community of parents, donors, governors and staff: together we are taking bold steps to strengthen our position as a leader in girls’ education, and shape our legacy for future generations.

343 students

105 Fdn Years 84 Middle Years 154 Senior Years 2500+ alumnae

around the world

122k 201k 317k dollars awarded in scholarships

dollars awarded in bursaries / financial aid

dollars invested in capital purchases and projects

Confident Girls

29 44

years we’ve been going to Strathcona for Outweek

new students registered for the Duke of Edinburgh program; 10 completed bronze level

700+

children and families from the community engaged in public programs, lectures, workshops, from Ken Steele to Dr. Joan Deak to Girls Learning Code.

Inspiring Women

43 278k 146 50 78%

graduates in the Class of 2015 in scholarships and awards offered by post-secondary destination schools

offers of admission, from... prestigious universities and colleges chose post-secondary schools in Canada as their final destination

UK: 6% USA: 5% JPN: 5% AUS: 2.5% CHN: 2.5%

St. Margaret’s School

1080 Lucas Avenue Victoria, BC, V8X 3P7 CANADA

(+1) 250 479 7171 info@stmarg.ca www.stmarg.ca

100

receive % ofoffersour graduates of admission from

universities of their choice.