Synergy Times The newsletter of Synergy School Winter 2013
Synergy Co-founders Jill Goffstein Stocks, Russ Messing and Katherine Czesak
Synergy School on Castro Street in Noe Valley in 1970’s.
Celebrating 40 Years: An Interview with Russ Messing By Kevin White This year, Synergy is celebrating 40 years of progressive education. Synergy parent and film maker Kevin White sat down with cofounder Russ Messing to talk about Synergy, its origins, and its abiding vision. The following is an excerpt from that interview.
Kevin White: Can you talk about the early days? How did you and Jill and Katherine start Synergy, and what was your vision? Russ Messing: I remember sitting outside on Potrero Avenue at the old Central Latino — which I don't think
is there any more — and Katherine [Czesak] , Jill [Goffstein] Arlene [Naschke] and I talked about starting a school. Katherine came up with the name “Synergy,” which came out of Buckminster Fuller's work: the idea of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. We bought a building — boom! — and there it was. When the school opened in 1972, we had 13 families who had the incredible courage to entrust their kids to us, and that’s how Synergy started. That was 40 years ago. (continued on page 2)
In this issue: An Interview with Russ Messing
1 Energy for Synergy 4 The Rainbow Room Explores 5 Risk, Trust & Challenge 7 Annual Report 8
“We named it Synergy: the idea of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.” Synergy Times
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Russ Messing with Sun Room student, Founders Day, November 2013
(Interview,continued) What was the philosophy behind the school? What was the guiding vision? RM: First and foremost, we started the school to give kids a great education. We had ideas about how to do that which were a little different than the mainstream; we also had a behavioral psychological perspective based on the work of
Synergy’s philosophy from the very beginning. Educationally, our approach was to organize the curriculum around a single theme. I had gone to England the summer before we started Synergy, and studied the English school system, which used a theme approach. For example, if the theme was boats, you’d teach all the subjects – science, geography, mathematic, literature, spelling – as they related to boats.
“One of Synergy’s primary values is about being respectful—of yourself as well as your compadres.” Alfred Adler, and his ideas about natural consequences—logical and natural consequences. And that's the genesis and the roots of Synergy’s Agreement System: kids being responsible for their own behavior and having logical or natural consequences for misbehavior. That was part of
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your classmates and teachers—and knowing that you are responsible for your own comportment. You know you can’t foist it off on somebody else. Nobody ate your homework; you did it, so own it. And own it when you’re screwing up in class. We also used the wave-out system— which Synergy teachers still use today. When somebody was misbehaving in class, the teacher just went like this [waves] and the student was then supposed to leave the room and come back when he or she was ready to change behavior. It was an amazing thing. It’s about teaching self-strength and responsibility. You know you're responsible for yourself and so there was no onerous top down discipline system—actually there was, but it was fashioned in a way so that kids could learn to take responsibility for their own education as well as their own behaviors.
Clearly many of those early values are still a part of Synergy. Can you talk talk about the foundation values of the school?
Could you talk a little bit about the Agreement System and the evolution of that?
RM: One of Synergy’s primary values is about being respectful—of yourself as well as your compadres,
RM: The goal of Synergy’s Agreement System was to keep a safe place for bodies and feelings. Synergy Times
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Morning Meeting, Castro Street, 1970’s
Basically, the school had to be a safe place for learning, and to create that we wanted people to feel that not only did they have to honor safety for other people, but that they had to insist on it for themselves as well. If they felt impinged upon or intruded upon or bullied, they could speak up about that, and other people could hear that. It was important for us as teachers to create community. In community, magic can happen, and without community, you have people going in all different directions, and it’s about “me” as opposed to a “we.” It was really important for us to create a weness. I think that to create community you also have to have a notion of what your own place in that community is, and to be responsible for that place in the community, and not have somebody else be responsible for you, so there's a learning component in the notion of community. I guess the other important thing is empowering kids.
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RM: Empowerment is absolutely essential. It was really important for us as founders of the school to somehow create the ambience, the environment, so that people felt empowered. And we did it through the Agreement System: if you signed that Agreement System you were signing on to be responsible for
Russ Messing on Synergy Backpacking Trip in 1970’s
Forty years later, what are you most proud of? RM: That Synergy is still there after 40 years—that is what I am most proud of. And that it hasn’t rested, that it continues to evolve, that it continues to excel, that the teachers
“It was important for us as teachers to create community. In community, magic can happen, and without community, you have people going in all different directions.” yourself, and when one is responsible for oneself, one is empowered. The concept of a teacher coop also came from that notion of empowerment. Synergy was a coop from the outset, because, as teachers, many of us felt disempowered in traditionally structured schools.
are still great. Also what I love—and this has been true from the beginning —is that the parents are so committed and involved. The ethnic and economic diversity is core to the school. And Securing the Promise endowment campaign is absolutely (continued page 4)
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Energy for Synergy By Russ Curtis and Rea Inglesis
(Interview,continued) essential to maintaining that richness. I am just totally proud of the school. Proud of all the different people who have carried this vision and made it their own—not only the teachers but also the parents, and even the kids, because they have lived the philosophy. It’s amazing that the vision we had as founders is still so much a part of the school. That’s pretty astounding, and it tells me that the vision was pretty good. Maybe that’s the gift the three of us provided: that what we started could be adopted and carried forward and improved on by those that came after us. That wasn’t of particular time and place—it was bigger than that.
After many years of thoughtful planning, Synergy School has gone solar! In January, after important roof preparation, the 88 panel Sunpower system was installed by San Francisco-based Luminalt. The Sunpower system is a 30 kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic array and is expected to offset the school’s daily power needs. Our new rooftop solar system will began harnessing power from the sun after it is inspected by PG&E in Spring 2013. We plan to celebrate the new installation with a ceremony that will be planned by the student Ecoteam. Members of this club that are now in Middle School became passionate about getting solar for Synergy to the point where they started fundraising. Their “Bake Sales for Solar Panels” were a call to action for the Board of Trustees’ Green Committee. The money they raised will go towards educating classes throughout the school about solar energy. The final part of the solar deployment will include a monitoring system that
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allows Synergy to share real time data about the school’s energy us and solar energy generation. A weather station on our roof will also provide data. The data will be incorporated into classroom curriculum and shared with the community on a screen in the front hall. We’d like to thank the anonymous donor who made this monitoring system possible! Before making the decision to purchase a solar system for the school, Synergy did an audit and invested in numerous energy saving improvements. One of them was to replace the roof with a new energy efficient membrane that combines extra insulation with sealed leakproof reflective coating. The new roof construction was installed by Mr. Roofing, Inc., owned by parent Carlos Rodriguez. With our building improvements, energy conservation, and our new solar system, we hope to produce enough electricity for all of Synergy’s needs.
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The Rainbow Room Explores by Annie Aguirre, Rainbow Room Teacher
This fall, the Rainbow Room walked to the Mission Science Workshop every Thursday afternoon in September. Our neighbor, the Workshop provides short science workshops to school-age children to enable them to explore a range of traditional lessons in experimental science. Housed in space at the Mission High School, each lesson typically includes a curriculumbased exploration, and then free time to observe and touch the animals, rocks, skeletons, and goo in the Workshop. The Rainbow Room began our workshops by examining air. Sol McKinney, a teacher at the Workshop, blew up a balloon inside a bottle to show that air can take shape. The children were given two syringes connected by small hoses. They pushed and pulled either end causing one end to pop out. When asked how this occurred, the students understood that as pressure was applied, the air pushed through the
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tubes, forcing the other end to pop out. To demonstrate the same principal that air can take shape, Sol put Rainbow Room student, Jason, inside a plastic garbage bag up to his neck and blew it up so big, all we could see were his feet and his head. This delighted the children, but what he did next was even more fantastic. He
The following week we began our lesson with the question, “What’s the Matter?” This is an interesting topic to teach because when matter changes forms, to the children, it’s magical. Sol began our lesson by discussing different types of solids and liquids. Each student was given a small cup with dry ice and told not to touch
“Science doesn’t teach anything, experience teaches it.” Richard Feynman, from the Mission Science Workshop.
used a vacuum cleaner to suck out all of the air from the bag. Jason was vacuum sealed! What Sol wanted the children to glean from this experiment is that when air is removed, it still exists and the evidence was the way that the bag clung to his body.
it. The teachers added a bit of water and the chunk of ice that appeared solid began to vaporize. They blew on it, waved their hands over it and watched the steam rise. The students couldn’t be (continued page 6)
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(Rainbow Room, continued) happier...that is, until they were given a rubber glove to stretch over the top. The steam slowly filled the glove until it became bigger and bigger and even bigger still. One by
trick came when Aaron popped out the cork and the bottle completely filled with fog.
Before they were through, the basic concepts of how clouds are made and why it rains were no longer a mystery. Aaron explained that when the the They got it! air pressure was released the water On our final trip to the Mission pushed back and became water vapor. Science Workshop, the children made terrariums. Almost all the bio-domes were successful, a very satisfying final experiment!
“The steam slowly filled the glove. One by one the gloves popped off and the room erupted with screams of joy.” one the gloves popped off and the room erupted with screams of joy. In the remaining two weeks, the students learned about the water cycle. Aaron Martin, Workshop teacher, put a large water cooler bottle on the table and asked for volunteers to fill it with air using a bicycle pump. If you’ve pumped bicycle tires with air, you know that you need to use brute force. We cheered the students until we saw the plastic begin to crinkle and push out a little here and there. The real
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The children had all seen water vapor in their home laboratories (their kitchens) and knew that water heated to a boil, makes steam. The students were beginning to catch on that heat is required for evaporation, but what happens to cool air? To find out, Aaron gave them a tub of water, a colored ice cube, and redtinted hot water in a dropper to show that warm water rises to the surface and cool water sinks. This led back to the water cycle and the central role that the sun plays in evaporation.
At Synergy, the kids reflected on their experience and wrote heart-felt thank you notes to their teachers. The children wrote about how they loved the free-time at the end of each session to explore the work-shop and to hold one of the many reptiles that live there. We felt much gratitude for the lessons learned and the fun we had while at the workshop.
Tammy & Elena Farewell/ 40th Celebration Join us for an afternoon of fun & nostalgia as we celebrate 40 years of Synergy and honor Tammy’s 35 years & Elena’s 30 years. Sunday April 28, 2013 2 - 6 pm at Synergy School
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Risk, Trust & Challenge: 8th Graders and the Ropes Course By Tiffany Tai, Middle School Science Teacher
In their eighth grade year at Farm School, now held at Ocean Song in Occidental, students participate in a rites of passage program. During the week, they learn about themselves through conversations and activities that challenge them physically, emotionally, and creatively on an individual as well as a group level. One of the highlights of the week was the ropes course, permanently located on-site at Ocean Song. Throughout the day, the ropes course facilitator guided the students through various group challenges designed to require increasing trust, communication, and team building skills. Their first challenge involved getting the group across wires suspended between trees. “Easy!” they all thought. As the eighth graders watched their classmates travel across the wire, at some point, it became clear that some individuals couldn’t go any further without falling off the wire— the consequence of which would Synergy Times
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involve starting over. There was shouting, pointing, some tense moments, and a few failed attempts, and then, someone asked, “Can we help each other across?” With affirmation from their facilitator,
screams. At some point in the day, every student pushed beyond their comfort zone. For some, this meant climbing up a tree farther than they initially felt comfortable or donning a less-than-stylish safety harness.
“We learned that we needed to work together to get through the challenge.” students quickly reached out to help each other. From that point on, one by one, they were able to complete the challenge. Armed with the knowledge that they could help and support each other, students moved on to other elements of the course, which involved lifting, belaying each other on ropes, conquering fears, and literally, some hand-holding. There was also laughter, shouts of support, and intense adrenaline-filled
For others, it was putting their trust in someone whom they hadn’t relied on before or facing their fear of falling as they whisked down the zip-line. The ropes course was a physically safe way for eighth graders to take risks and face their fears with the help, support, and trust of their classmates. At the end of the day, students were filled with a sense of pride, courage, accomplishment, and more than enough adrenaline to go around.
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Synergy School 2011-12 Annual Report
Financial Report Fiscal Year September 1, 2011 - August 31, 2012
Revenue
Revenue
Tuition & Fees
2,813,710
Giving Endowment Allocations Interest Income Total
510,198
90,000 9,000 3,422,908
Expenses
Financial Aid 16%
Giving 15%
Salaries & Benefits 61%
Program 16%
Tuition & Fees 82%
Expenses Salaries & Benefits
1,966,862
Program
507,961
Operating Reserves Financial Aid Total
224,248 507,961 3,207,032
Giving
Giving Securing the Promise
212,833
Annual Fund
146,500
Auction
83,160
CSF Beach Clean-up
33,770
Hurwitz Scholarship
23,250
Scrip/Other
10,685
Total
510,198
Salaries & Benefits Program Operating Reserves Financial Aid
Tuition & Fees Giving Endowment Allocations Interest Income
5% 7%
Auction 16%
Securing the Promise 42%
Annual Fund 29%
Securing the Promise Auction Hurwitz Scholarship
Annual Fund CSF Beach Clean-up Scrip/Other
Ways to Give to Synergy School Synergy School is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and gifts are tax deductible to the extent allowed by the law. Donations are accepted in the following ways: Mail your donation to: Development Office Synergy School 1387 Valencia St San Francisco, CA 94110
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Many employers have a matching gift program that allows an employee’s gift to be matched by 1:1. Ask your employer about their matching gift guidelines.
Donate online or download a pledge card at www.synergyschool.org/giving. For more information about including Gifts of appreciated securities are gladly accepted. For more information, please contact Liz McDonald Synergy School in your estate plans, please contact Liz McDonald. at 415 567-6177 or liz@synergyschool.org
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Synergy School 2011 - 2012 Annual Report
Securing the Promise 40th Anniversary Campaign
Gifts and Pledges to the Campaign Annie and Diego Aguirre
Sharon and Bob Kolbrener
Lisa Thorpe and Jack Dowling
Nancy and Keith Anding Daniel Angel & Kevin Souza Anonymous (4) Tanya Baker Marilyn Bancel and Rik Myslewski
Kim and Max Krummel Carolyn Kruse
Shannon Thyne and Christopher Benitez Joseph Timonere Pat Tokunaga and Jeff Moad Samantha Tripodi and Matt Rolandson Jill and John Walsh
Jana Barber Sandy Barra and Pete Dardis Cheryl Barth and Tom McCurdie Kathy Bella and John Harris Laura and Emmett Bergman
Leslee and Lewis Levey
Sogolon Best and Nicole Branch Carolyn Brown Mahala Bundy and Steve Heminger Joan Campagna & Alan Markle Vincent Campasano and Harris Meyer
Ebony & Raymond Manion Vicky Mauleon Elizabeth McDonald and Tom Sicurella Alison Kim and Christiane Medina Natham Mellado
Robert Carr and Andrea LoPinto Christina Castillo and David Schott Chevron Humankind Matching Gift Program Zoe Alexandra Ching Clorox Company Foundation
Russ Messing and Arlene Naschke Wilma Messing Ilsa and Tony Miller Judy and Paul Minton Melanie Moore
Danielle Conrad and Hemant Shah Russell Curtis and Mark Russell Katherine Czesak Tammy Damon and Elena Dillon Susanne and Joseph DeRisi
Ruth and Ed Mortenson Elizabeth Murdock and Paul Cort Carey Myslewski and Katy Yan Nisha Nanda and Peter Monks Mike and Penney Odell
Deirdre Devine and Al Indelicato Ronan and Patty Dunlop Erica and Jim Dyquisto David Emanuel and Maria Wamsley Dr. C. Garrison and Ann Fathman
Andrea Palash and Jessica Watson Greg Pennington and Linda Parker Joan Pettijohn Robert Redlinger and Michelle Hecht Diane Robbins
Consuelo Faust-Anderson & Thor Anderson Alan Fleming and Claudia Romero Leslie Fleming and Kevin Wilcock Rita Franklin David Gast
Teresa and Carlos Rodriguez Jason Rohwer Anne Rosenthal and Maggie Jones Jessica Roybal Anne Salsbury and Jules Steimnitz
Jill Goffstein Stocks Annelise Goldberg and Aaron Roland Cat Gratz and Tim Barritt Glenn Greenberg Donna Guyot Johnson
Risa Sandler Jenna Schott and Derek Rosenfield Robert Schmitt Paul Schumer Lois Scott and Bernie Choden
Amelia Guyot-Nagel Iris Guyot-Nagel Amie Haiz and Eric Wilson Fran Hegeler and Bruce Prescott Sarah Holcombe and Eric Weaver
Alys & Dan Shin Shonni Silverberg and John Shapiro Jane & Tom Singer Christopher Slagle Rob Tan and Richard Smith
Valentina Imbeni and Andrew Ioannou Rea Inglesis Faye and Dereck Jones Jesse Kitses
Sonya & Melvin Smith Daniel Angel & Kevin Souza Tiffany Tai Edward & Heather Taylor
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Mitchell Laufer and Michael Dadario Richard Lawler and Eliza Robertson Becky and Bruce Leighton Alexis Limberakis Paul Linde and Laurie Schultz Cynthia Louie and Frni Beyer
David Wang Wendy Werby Kevin White and Annamarie Faro Carolyn Wilson Koerschen and William New Helen Wood Jinoos Yazdany and Arash Anoshiravani
Endowment Facts Synergy’s founders started the school’s endowment when they started the school, 40 years ago. The endowment is now worth about $2.8 million. In 1996, Synergy embarked on a campaign to add the middle school and purchase the building we occupy now. By 2000, the community had raised $3 million and made that dream a reality. Synergy’s endowment is money invested for the long term. A percentage of the endowment flows into the school’s budget every year. By setting that payout around 5 percent, the fund can continue to provide support in perpetuity.
Securing the Promise 40th Anniversary Campaign Our Goal: $2.5 million Pledges & Gifts received to date: $1.1 million
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Synergy School 2011-12 Annual Report
Gifts to the Annual Fund Board of Trustees Tanya Baker Jana Barber Sandy Barra and Pete Dardis Sogolon Best and Nicole Branch Mahala Bundy and Steve Heminger Vincent Campasano and Harris Meyer Katherine Czesak Tammy Damon and Elena Dillon Ronan and Patty Dunlop David Emanuel and Maria Wamsley Alan Fleming and Claudia Romero Leslie Fleming and Kevin Wilcock Rita Franklin Jill Goffstein Stocks Amie Haiz and Eric Wilson Michelle Hecht and Robert Redlinger Fran Hegeler and Bruce Prescott Rea Inglesis Carolyn Kruse Laurel Schultz and Paul Linde Cynthia Louie and Frni Beyer Michael Magnuson and Rachel Heit Vicky Mauleon Elizabeth McDonald and Tom Sicurella Russ Messing and Arlene Naschke Judy and Paul Minton Joan Pettijohn Richard Lawler and Eliza Robertson Teresa and Carlos Rodriguez Tiffany Tai Pat Tokunaga and Jeff Moad Kevin White and Annamarie Faro
Parents Anonymous Tiffany Abuan
Russell Curtis and Mark Russell
Maggie Perkins
Tiffany Delloue and Kyle Macdonald Susanne and Joseph DeRisi Alison and Ivan Donohue Colleen Donovan Erica and Jim Dyquisto
Keisha Perkins Elisha Prather Diane Robbins Maria Rogers Pascual and Josh Karliner Jenna Schott and Derek Rosenfield
Cynthia Eagleton Tawanna Edwards Susana Eisen and Vincent Williams Jeannette Eisen-Onderdonk Keesje Fischer and Steven Horowitz
Anne Rosenthal and Maggie Jones Jessica Roybal Maria Sanchez and Domagoj Vucic Alys and Dan Shin Elizabeth Silver
Effie Fletcher and Marc Irwin Ana Fletes and Gregor Berkowitz Sara Foster and Richard McDerby Bianca Galladora Barbara Gallios and Richard Woo
Catherine Singstad and Seth Dickerman Rob Tan and Richard Smith Mie and Mikkel Svane Rabab Tawfik and Marc Garvey Shannon Thyne and Christopher Benitez
Kathleen Gear and John Jemerin Annelise Goldberg and Aaron Roland Carla Gomez and Sandy Feinland Beth Grady and Kyle Brutschy Cat Gratz and Tim Barritt
Samantha Tripodi and Matt Rolandson Aya and Ansel Van Zandt Julia Ward and Adam Savage Frances White and Steve Oddo Clare Whitlam
Sara Hasson J. Daniell Hebert Mary June Hernandez Jill and Rem Hoffmann Sarah Holcombe and Eric Weaver
Tanichya and Nat Wongprasert Brenda Yang and Kevin Tsurutome Jinoos Yazdany and Arash Anoshiravani
Brenda and Andrew Hopewell Heidi Howell Valentina Imbeni and Andrew Ioannou Rani Kelly and Donald Hagan Bohdanna Kesala and Jason Yurasek Jenny and David Kiely Katrina and Michael Krantz Kim and Max Krummel Alexis Limberakis Jacqui Lumer
Jackie Adams & Jessica Mass Norma and Frank Alvarez Kent Anderson Kathy Bella and John Harris
Mitra and Faramarz Mahdavi Gail Mallimson and Elliot Goliger Constance Matthiessen Alison Kim and Christiane Medina Ilsa and Tony Miller
Laura and Emmett Bergman Staci Boden and Alex Gologorsky Kathy Brennessel Chiyomi Brent Ellen Bruno
Deborah Miller Susan Mizner Elizabeth and Tom Mornini Zoe Mullery Elizabeth Murdock and Paul Cort
Laura Cashion and Michael Hunter Christina Castillo and David Schott Amy Cole and Deren Baker Karen Coopman and Deszon Claiborne Katherine and Jeff Cross
Nisha Nanda and Peter Monks
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Clare and Abner Nolan Kathryn and Ed Osawa Sumi Paik and Alejandro Gutierrez Andrea Palash & Jessica Watson
Staff & Former Staff Deirdre Devine and Al Indelicato Siri Scull Carolyn Wilson Koerschen and William New
Alumni & Alumni Parents Janet Arnesty and John Good Marilyn Bancel and Rik Myslewski Sara Bartholomew and Peter Good Judith Beaumont Carol and Michael Blecker Carolyn Brown and Michael Butler Richard Lawler and Eliza Robertson Robert Carr and Andrea LoPinto Eugene Cash and Pamela Weiss Krista Farey and Vishwanath Lingappa Gail Fratar Kessler Beth Gabow Julie Graham and Candace Thille Donna Guyot Johnson Amelia Guyot-Nagel Iris Guyot-Nagel Estella Habal and Hilton Obenzinger Karen Klein and Benjamin Golvin Linda Marietta Jessica and Eric Metoyer Synergy Times
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Synergy School 2011-12 Annual Report Renata and Alex Miller Mackenzie Oppenheim Kim Ridinger and Nancy Healey Kathryn Rouine-Rapp and Joseph Rapp Monica Rubin-Levavi and Ofir Levavi Jennifer and Ma Somsouk Sandy Shanks Sally and Patrick Stull Christine and Lane Tanner Kathe Traynor JoAnn Triolo Tracy Wong Diane Zacher and Howard Gelman
Grandparents and Friends Anonymous Ruta Allen Frances Bowes Art Burgelis Vija Burgelis Katherine Carroll Beatrice Coxhead and Gerald Anderson Jay and Alicia Crawford Patricia Dinner Kristen and Steve Flance David Gast Steve Grand-Jean Carmen Hall Noel and Terry Hefty Beverly Hines Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Hirsch Tara and Chris Hume Ellen Joy Adela and Joel Karliner Leslee and Lewis Levey L.H. Linde Bonnie Mackenzie and Art Tressler Arline and Leonard Mallimson Mr. and Mrs. G.C. Matthiessen Tessa McDonald Richard Mead Jake Messing Ruth and Ed Mortenson Mary Nee Mr. John S. Osterweis Cecile and Bernard Silver Brad and Carole Townsend Carolyn Zecca Ferris
Foundations & Corporations Art.com Inc. Genentech Givingstation
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Oracle Corporation Schwab Fund for Charitable Giving Visa GivingStation Wells Fargo Community Support Campaign Saint Francis Lutheran Church Schools Mentoring and Resource Team
The Swig Foundation in honor of Steve Grand-Jean Joann Triolo in memory of Anna Triolo Tracy Wong in memory of Eli Golvin-Klein Carolyn Zecca Ferris in honor of Steve Grand-Jean
The Swig Foundation Clorox Company Foundation Google Matching Gift Program
Honor/Memorial Gifts Ruta Allen in honor of Annabel & Sanders Tillitt Laura and Emmett Bergman in honor of Maria Teresa O’Rourke Vija Burgelis in honor of Evan Miller Patricia S. Dinner in honor of Steve Grand-Jean Jeannette Eisen-Onderdonk in memory of Henry Onderdonk David Gast in honor of Tammy & Elena Zachary Gelman in memory of Eli Golvin-Klein Donna Guyot Johnson in memory of Ruth Nagle Amelia & Iris Guyot-Nagel in memory of Ruth Nagle Noel & Terry Hefty in honor of Russ Messing and Arlene Naschke L.H. Linde in memory of Marcella B. Linde Bonnie Mackenzie and Art Tressler in memory of Gladys Alice Mackenzie Arline & Leonard Mallimson in honor of Elon Mallimson Jake Messing in honor of Russ Messing and Arlene Naschke Ruth and Ed Mortenson in honor of Rolf, Aline & Anabella Mary Nee in memory of Harriet Damon Andrea Palash & Jessica Watson in memory of Mari F. Palash
Class of 2012 Gift to the Endowment Thank you to the parents of the Class of 2012 for directing their class gift of $4204 to the Endowment. This is the fifth year in a row that the Eighth Grade Class Gift went to the Endowment. Their gift will be part of Synergy forever and will help provide the Synergy experience for generations of students and their families.
Donors who made gifts to the school between September 1, 2011 and August 31, 2012 are listed in this annual report. We have tried to provide accurate and complete information for this report. Our apologies for any names omitted or listed incorrectly. Please contact the Director of Development, Liz McDonald, to correct any records.
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Mission Statement Synergy Times is published twice a year by the Development Office of Synergy School. Feedback and story ideas are welcome. Editors: Jenna Schott, Liz McDonald Photography: Russ Curtis, Tiffany Tai, Annie Aguirre
The mission of Synergy School is to provide a quality education by empowering children to flourish academically, to blossom as individuals, and to become self-confident, creative learners.
Synergy Annual Fund
Every Gift Counts The Annual Fund helps to bridge the gap between tuition and the actual cost of educating a student at Synergy School for a full year. The support we receive from our community of parents, friends, alumni and grandparents helps Synergy to maintain the strength of our program while keeping our tuition affordable and offering financial aid more than a third of our community. Every gift counts. It’s not too late to contribute to the fund.
Synergy School was founded in 1973 and is a non-profit teacher cooperative, wherein students, parents, and teachers cooperate together to further a rewarding education for each child. We are a vibrant, diverse community with 190 students in kindergarten through eighth grade located in San Francisco’s Mission District.
If you have any questions about donations, please contact Liz McDonald, Director of Development, at liz@synergyschool.org.