FUEL
xploation MARK YOUR CALENDER
OCT 27
Your gift supports Waterford as we cultivate a mindset that transforms challenge into opportunity
WAT ER GIVI FORD'S NG D AY OC
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OU R COM M U NITY LE A DS BY E X AMPLE $1.4 million raised for the Waterford Fund last year 676 donors gave to the Waterford Fund last year 100% of our Board of Trustees gave to the Waterford Fund
That generosity is the foundation this year is built on, and every gift given fuels our momentum forward.
LIGHT THE
Spark
Exploration doesn't sustain itself. It has to be fueled, year after year, by a community willing to invest in it. A gift to the Waterford Fund fuels MOMENTUM, propelling Waterford further in the right direction. Our school is only as strong as the community willing to stand behind it, and we want you to be a part.
W HE R E T H AT MOM E NT U M S H OWS U P • Instructional coaching that cultivates great teachers into extraordinary teachers by fueling 75 cross-curricular visits and mentorship across 12 departments last year alone. • Science labs where curiosity is given the room and resources to grow, from discovery in the Lower School classroom to a continuum of inquiry through graduation and beyond. • Fields and gyms where students build character and skill in an athletic program that reaches our entire student body. Each of these investment opportunities writes a story of its own. Each one starts with a gift to the Waterford Fund.
A YEAR OF MOME A YEAR TO Expl THE WATE RFORD D IF F ER EN C E
We hold fast to the traditions that have always defined a liberal arts education: students doing the work themselves, building the resilience they'll need to engage with a complex world, and discovering the quiet, lasting value of learning for its own sake. We are excited about the year ahead and for the opportunity to once again demonstrate how Waterford is leading the way in education across the nation.
A R E CORD Y EAR Waterford is experiencing unprecedented health, achieving our optimal enrollment of 1,100 students with waitlists in most grade levels. Thanks to our invested community, we closed out a record-setting year—raising $1.4 million to fuel worldclass programs that shape every student's experience.
ENTUM,
lore
EXCE LLE NCE AC ROSS THE B OA R D Last year our students competed at the highest levels—winning three state championships and one national championship in athletics, returning to the FIRST Robotics Competition World Championship in Houston, Texas, and turning in standout performances in the regional Ethics Bowl and state Science Olympiad—a testament to the breadth of engagement across our learning community.
EX PLO RE : O UR T HEME FOR T H E YE A R A HEAD Looking ahead, we are establishing the preeminent liberal arts independent school experience in the nation. With a motivated and distinguished teaching faculty investing in our students, we remain boldly committed to preparing students to lead lives of meaning and purpose. As we focus on this year's theme of Explore, we shift our attention to helping students pursue curiosity, spark wonder, and ask deeper questions as they venture beyond the familiar.
STRENGTH IN EV ERY D I R EC T IO N OPTIMAL ENROLLMENT 1,100 students across Lower, Middle and Upper School AWA R D W I N N I N G P R O G R A M S Our students brought home state and national championships in robotics, scholastic competitions, and athletics S E T T I N G T H E PAC E The Class of 2026 was accepted to 127 universities across the globe, with 55% receiving merit based college scholarships
FUEL
Science
IGNITING CURIOSITY, ONE QUESTION AT A TIME Fuel is never just a metaphor in science. It's the literal energy behind discovery. Five years ago, Waterford's Lower School rebuilt its science program from the ground up—aligning the curriculum with Next Generation Science Standards and a fundamentally different philosophy. Stop handing students answers. Start handing them questions.
W HAT T H IS LOOK S L I K E I N T H E C LA SS RO O M Teri Andrach's Lower School classroom: students piecing together why the same tree species grew on two continents, not handed the answer, but a clue, then another, narrowing it down together, out loud, like working scientists. Kristi Watabe's Lower School classroom: microscopes, models, hearts to dissect, chemicals to explore, and when a hypothesis turns out wrong, students don't erase it, they get curious about why. Middle & Upper School: That same curiosity matures into fluency, as students explore why the Great Salt Lake is so salty, build earthquake-resistant structures and solar cars, trace evolution through fossil trackways and fly studies, and decode DNA with the same biotechnology—micropipettes, PCR, electrophoresis—once reserved for university labs.
"Exploring is asking questions, and how you find out the answers to questions is exploration." — Andy Gill, MS/US Science Department Chair W HAT MA K E S I T D I F F E R E NT As early as kindergarten, students encounter phenomena that spark curiosity, guided through hands-on experiences from the very start. A shadow tracked across a windowsill in Lower School becomes a hypothesis tested and then defended in Upper School. Every step is built the same way: learn by asking, not by being told. Curiosity turns into competition and mentorship through Science Olympiad, Robotics, and the Steminist Club—where our oldest students teach our youngest. From the beginning of a student’s scientific journey to the end, they’re learning to think and work like scientists and engineers.
YO UR GIF T F U E L S The professional development opportunities that keep our teachers on the cutting edge of how science is taught. The hands-on resources—from beakers to birding trips—that turn students into scientists long before they set foot in a university lab. Fuel this program, and you fuel the next generation of thinkers who ask "why," chase the answer with confidence, and never stop exploring.
“We foster curiosity, and teach that questions are good. Right answers are not what we're going for. We're going for asking the questions, exploring, and wondering— and that's something that carries over into any part of your day and any part of your life." — Teri Andrach, LS Science Specialist
F U E L Instructional Coaching CREATING SPACE FOR TEACHERS TO GROW Great teaching takes courage. The courage to explore. To question. To try something new and risk the outcome. At Waterford, our Instructional Coaching program across Middle and Upper School gives faculty that needed space and support. This program provides one-on-one coaching, small-group workshops, and cohort experiences. Ensuring no teacher—new or veteran— grows alone.
THE NUMB ER S B EH I N D T H E G ROWT H
6
Innovative programs supporting educators across the Middle & Upper Schools
10
New faculty individually mentored
75
Cross-curricular observation visits last year alone
Every one of these numbers is a teacher choosing to grow for their students—and a donor making that choice possible.
W HAT MA K E S I T D I F F E R E NT Through Commons Ground, a Waterford-developed program, faculty step out of their own classrooms and into each other's, fostering collaboration and shared best practices across departments and grade levels: a Science teacher borrowing a discussion technique from History, an English teacher discovering a strategy in a PE class. The result is a faculty culture where visiting a colleague's class, reflecting on a recorded lesson, or simply asking "what if " shows the mark of a teacher committed to staying curious and continually growing. "I've learned more from cross-curricular visits and watching master teachers teach than from many other professional development sessions I've attended. I always walk away with something I can use in my own classroom to become a more effective teacher." — Lisa Rands, MS/US Math Faculty
“A healthy, strong teaching faculty is one that is constantly interrogating what they do. That daily, integrated professional development that we cultivate through Instructional Coaching is the key marker of a truly strong teaching faculty.” — Betsy McGee, Director of Instructional Coaching
YO UR GIF T F U E L S Collaboration. Teachers sharpening what already works, coaches learning right alongside them, a faculty that never stops asking "what if?" Fuel this program, and you fuel a faculty willing to take risks—long after they've mastered their subject. That's what makes an extraordinary education possible for every student who walks through the door.
FUEL
Athletics
BUILDING CHARACTER & CONFIDENCE FOR EVERY STUDENT At Waterford, athletics isn't reserved for a select few. Every student takes the court, field, or course—not just as an extracurricular, but as part of the liberal arts journey.
THE A R C OF A WAT E R FOR D ATH LE TE Lower School: first steps onto the field—movement, teamwork, the simple joy of trying something new. Middle School: that spirit of exploration takes hold—students try new sports during their school day and competitive play begins. Upper School: Class IX students compete side-by-side with those in Class XII, learning through mentorship and shared purpose as part of something bigger than themselves.
WATERFORD FIELDS 40 TEAMS ACROSS 8 SPORTS
W HAT MA K E S I T D I F F E R E NT Many of our coaches are also Waterford faculty, carrying the same liberal arts values from the classroom onto the field. Coaches train alongside their athletes during the school day, so sports aren't squeezed in around the school day—they're part of it.
YO UR GIF T F U E L S The facilities, equipment, and accomplished coaching staff that keep these programs running. Along with new and growing teams that give more students a place to belong.
Fuel athletics, and you fuel a lifetime of confidence. Students will carry this mindset with them on the field, in the classroom, and wherever their path leads.
"Exploring means stepping into the unknown. You're vulnerable, you're trying new things, you're testing the waters. But when a season is done, those kids are left bigger, stronger, faster, more confident, and more connected. They can see the benefit of taking that risk." — Ryan Judd ’02, Director of Athletics
YOUR GIFT FUELSExploration Every spark needs fuel to keep going. Your support fuels the exploration that defines a Waterford education: the risk-taking, the questions, the confidence built one classroom, one team, one discovery at a time. It means every child who attends Waterford, benefits from an educational opportunity rooted in a world-class liberal arts pedagogy. And that opportunity only grows stronger with each year that follows. A gift to the Waterford Fund is never just a gift. It is a spark, added to thousands of others, that keeps this community exploring, growing, and reaching further than it could alone.
MAKE A GIFT
Today
IGNITE THE SPARK THAT FUELS A WATERFORD EDUCATION
WHAT YOUR GIFT Becomes YOUR GIF T B E COM E S A MOM E N T. E V E RY DAY, IN EVERY D I VI S I ON. • • •
A student in a science classroom discovers the wrong hypothesis is just as valuable as the right one, because it means they are still asking “why?" A history teacher participates in Commons Ground, visits a science class, and learns a new discussion method to help their students connect a complex idea. A coach, who is also a teacher, works with a student to fix a lab report and encourage them after a rough practice.
THREE PR OG R AM S . ONE B E L I E F. Science. Instructional Coaching. Athletics. Three different expressions of the same conviction: that a Waterford education asks students to explore, to risk being wrong, and to discover who they're capable of becoming. Across every department, every team, and every classroom, your generosity funds the training, the tools, and the time that turns intellectual risk-taking into a life-long habit.
W HAT YOUR G I F T MAK ES POS S IBLE TEACHERS who never stop growing, because colleagues are invested in their craft STUDENTS who find confidence on the field, because someone believed they belonged there CLASSROOMS where curiosity is the whole point
W A T E R F O R D
F U N D
GIVING CIRCLES H O N O R , B E A U T Y, W I S D O M C I R C L E $50,000+ GOLD CIRCLE $25,000 - $49,999 BLUE CIRCLE $10,000 - $24,999 BURGUNDY CIRCLE $5,000 - $9,999 R AV E N S C I R C L E $2,500 - $4,999 1981 CIRCLE $1,981-$2,499
O C TO
BER Join y 27 our co mmun in fue lin ity for ev g explorati ery W o aterfo n r stude d nt
QUESTIONS? Contact Waterford Development at (801) 816-2217 or development@waterfordschool.org