Walking on campus Tuesday morning a little after 10 am, you could sense the buzz. Despite the wet and rainy conditions, students were eagerly anticipating the beginning of one of our most beloved traditions – buddies.
I walked quietly into the JK classroom to see the pairing up of our youngest students with our newest cohort of older buddies. 4th graders, many who had been talking about this since the first day of school, took the younger children by the hand and gently escorted them to seats to start their opening activity.
The gentle confidence and pride of the 4th graders was extraordinarily touching, as they took up their new leadership role. JK students looked up wide-eyed and a bit shy, but clearly eager to connect with the big kids. 10 minutes later the room hummed with the sound of busy buddy pairs punctuated by occasional laughter and clapping.
The kick-off of buddies turns out to be well-timed with another important kick-off that is happening next week – the launch of our Annual Fund campaign. Inspiration for this year’s theme – Rock the Annual Fund! – came from the handpainted buddy rocks that can be found around scattered around campus, reminders of a buddy activity that took place several years ago.
Annual Fund co-Chair Marie Williamson came up with the idea for the campaign as she was walking the campus and noticed the colorfully painted rocks. The rocks symbolized not only the buddy program, but the powerful relationships between students, teachers, and parents that define the Hillbrook experience. A decision to rock the annual fund by supporting Hillbrook with a tax-deductible donation reflects a decision to support every child, every day at our school by covering operating costs that are not fully covered by tuition.
A gift to the annual fund ensures we can continue to provide an ever stronger educational program for all of our students. During the last few years, we have:
- restructured our 6th grade to more closely reflect the 7th and 8th grade experiences
- added a JK-8 Writing Coordinator position
- adopted Singapore math up through 6th grade
- created an advanced math track in 7th/8th grade
- adopted a new Social Emotional Learning program
- launched a take-home iPad program across grades 5-8.
This year we are already at work on the science audit, which will provide direction to help us establish ourselves as a leader in science education in Silicon Valley, as well as reviewing our approach to reading in the Lower School.
The Rock the Annual Fund campaign is focused on achieving our goal of 100 percent participation. Last year’s 90 percent of Hillbrook parents donated to the Annual Fund. Thank you so much for your extraordinary support for our school.
Annual Fund co-chairs Nancy Yu and Marie Williamson, along with their team of class captains, are focused on achieving 100 percent participation this year. Every gift, no matter the size, helps us to provide an extraordinary educational experience. Our community can send no stronger signal in its belief in our school than by putting its time and its resources behind the school’s long-term growth and success.
Some of you might wonder – why don’t we just set tuition to cover our full costs? Hillbrook, like other independent schools, sets tuition to cover a percentage of our operating expenses. This year Hillbrook’s tuition covers about 84% of operating expenses, right in line with the National Association of Independent School average.
Philanthropic donations bridge this tuition gap allowing us to fully fund our program. This year’s gap is $4033 per student.
It is important to recognize that our funding model reflects a strategic decision, one that places us firmly in line with the leading independent schools in the country. There are two main benefits to this funding model. First, because Hillbrook is a 501c-3 non-profit organization, donations to the annual fund are tax deductible, thus allowing families to receive a tax benefit from their gifts to the school. Second, by using donations to offset some of our operating expenses we are able to make our school and our program economically accessible to a broader range of families.
To learn more about the school’s financial model, I strongly encourage you to read the Annual Report on Giving which will be arriving in the mail next week and also attend our State of the School presentation on November 8. During this presentation, we will share highlights from Vision 2015 as well as provide our annual financial overview.
Hillbrook educates students for school and for life. Talk to any of our recently graduated 9th graders and you will learn that our academic program has prepared them exceptionally well for the rigorous independent, parochial, and public high schools they attend not only here in Silicon Valley but across the country.
Talk to them about their Hillbrook experience and they are likely to share a story about a favorite teacher or coach who challenged them to push themselves further then they thought they could go, or about a favorite activity – the regatta, the trip to Catalina, or even jokes at Flag – that they vividly remember and miss now that they are gone.
Many of them would also mention buddies and the relationships they created with students both younger and older through the years. Indeed, many would say that coming back to Hillbrook feels a little like coming home.
Hillbrook has been a rock in their lives helping them strive toward their highest individual potential and preparing them for the new challenges and adventures they face as they have moved on from our campus. When you support the annual fund this year you will help to ensure that we remain a powerful source of knowledge, skills and inspiration for this year’s students. Rock on.