Your gift enables kindness in action as we establish the preeminent liberal arts independent school experience in the nation.
SERVING WITH KINDNESS
EARLY MORNING SERVICE IN LOWER SCHOOL
The Waterford Fund enables innovative programs like Early Morning Service that plant seeds of lifelong volunteerism in support of learning. Each morning, Class IV and V students arrive early to serve their school community— greeting PreK and Kindergarten students at carpool, helping organize classrooms, and returning lost items. This volunteer program builds upon our core value of responsibility and creates connections across grade levels. The impact ripples throughout our community as older students build meaningful relationships with younger students and model the caring leadership that defines Waterford.
“When you help others, they feel joyful, which also brings you joy. There’s no other way I could build connections with the younger students if I didn’t do Early Morning Service”
—Amali P., Class IV Student
“I’ve learned that helping and kindness matters. Being with each other matters. Through Early Morning Service, I get to meet new people and help build our community.”
—Leo D., Class V Student
The Waterford Fund enables innovative programs like our new Writing Fellows program, which expands one-on-one writing tutorials to serve all students— from those refining already strong work to those building foundational skills. This faculty-led initiative trains Class XI and XII students to provide attentive, personalized feedback that helps peers develop as thoughtful writers and critical thinkers. Through grade-free consultations emphasizing process over product, Writing Fellows create space for intellectual risk-taking and authentic collaboration. Embodying our With Kindness theme through service and attention, this program advances our liberal arts commitment to writing as thinking, preparing students with essential communication skills for college and life.
WRITING FELLOWS PROGRAM THINKING WITH KINDNESS
“If you have a student who loves the humanities, this is their opportunity to be a leader, to utilize their skills in a way that impacts the community positively. There really is nothing else like it on campus.”
—Andrea Brunken, English Teacher & Writing Center Coach
DISCOVERING WITH KINDNESS
INSIDE THE NEW CLASS IX HUMANITIES COURSE
The Waterford Fund enables innovative programs like our new Class IX Humanities course, a cornerstone of our signature Waterford liberal arts curriculum that prepares students for an ever-evolving future. This discussion-based class moves beyond traditional lecture models, with students engaging with core texts and global citizenship through civil discourse. In doing so, they learn to navigate complexity, think critically, and develop resilience in pursuit of liberal arts excellence. Waterford Fund supports a consistent liberal arts pedagogy emphasizing thinking, analysis, discussion, and writing across all disciplines, creating a distinctive educational experience that shapes students for life.
“The jobs that our students are going to have don’t exist yet, and between Class IX and when they graduate from college, the world is going to change dramatically. What they need are these foundational abilities to have conversations, to be curious, to research what they need to know. ”
—Casey O’Malley Director of Academics
BRINGING CLASS IX HUMANITIES TO LIFE
Creating the Class IX Humanities course required more than curriculum design—it called for transformative professional development that equipped our faculty with new pedagogical skills. The Waterford Fund made this possible by investing in History Department Chair Julie Ransom’s paticipation in the Exeter Humanities Institute, where she experienced discussion-based learning firsthand. What she learned there now shapes every Class IX Humanities classroom: students sit in circles rather than rows, lead conversations rather than listen to lectures, and practice disagreeing productively in a space where authenticity is valued over perfect answers. Building on this success, and with the support of the Waterford Fund, Waterford is bringing Exeter faculty to campus this June to train the entire English and History departments—ensuring these discussion skills extend throughout our students’ Waterford journey and deepen their learning experience.
“It was the most valuable professional development I’ve done in all my years as an educator. Now my students come to class eager to talk, holding each other accountable to use evidence and let everyone’s voice be heard. ”
—Julie Ransom History Department Chair
LEAD THE WAY
Every year, gifts to the Waterford Fund demonstrate what is possible when our community comes together in the spirit of shared purpose and belief in our mission. Your support makes a difference and allows us to provide educational opportunities for every child that are rooted in world-class liberal arts learning. Lead with Kindness—make a gift to deepen the impact of Waterford’s transformational learning experience.
“Our family chooses to support the Waterford Fund every year because our investment pays continuous dividends in the lives of our children, our family, and our community. Each donation strengthens a movement built on kindness, whether it’s a teacher’s extra care in helping Sara Grace master a new concept or the encouragement Wynn feels from his classmates on the field. These moments remind us why we give and why we hope you’ll join us in supporting the Waterford Fund this year.”
—Dave and Selena Overholt P. ’33, ’35
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Contact Waterford Development at (801) 816-2217 or development@waterfordschool.org