Vanessa Alexander
Director of Development
The Development Office wishes you a warm welcome back after a busy summer. I am delighted to begin the 2011-12 school year in my new role as Director of Development. This is San Francisco Day School’s 30th Anniversary and we will continue to celebrate this milestone throughout the year ahead.
The Development Office manages the School’s fundraising efforts and serves as the primary liaison between the Parents Association, our many volunteers, and the administration. In addition to working with our current parents, we also help keep our alumni, past parents, and the founding families connected to the School.
Last year we once again had a very successful fundraising year thanks to the generous support of our community. The Annual Fund brought in over $1.1 million with 96% parent participation. I wish to thank our dedicated volunteers for helping us to meet our ambitious goals, particularly last year’s chairs Chris Barber, Claudia Lewis, and Topher Solmssen. This year, Topher will be joined by Scott Hartman and Wendy Miller.
As Mike Halper, President of the Board of Trustees, announced at the State of the School dinner, we have undertaken an ambitious campaign to boost the school’s endowment and ensure the continued excellence of SFDS’s core programs. We have had significant early success and have raised $12.4 million to date. We look forward to discussing our goals with the community in more detail as the year progresses.
Get out your calendars and save the date of Saturday, May 5 for CultureFest 2012. This year’s chairs, Sara Byrne and Courtney Norris, are planning a fantastic event to support Discounted Tuition at the School.
Please don’t hesitate to stop by our office. Dasha Ostrova and Karen Swing Bromley continue in their respective roles as Events Coordinator and Director of the Annual Fund. Michelle Phillips, who joined our team last year, is now the Director of Communications. Libby Wachtler, who worked part-time in Admissions and Development last year, has joined SFDS full-time and will be supporting both departments.
We look forward to seeing you around school throughout the year. Thank you in advance for your generous support of our fundraising initiatives in 2011-12 and your ongoing commitment to SFDS.
Best regards,
Vanessa Alexander
