Terry Gumz
Director of Development
Welcome back to school! As I begin my second year, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the entire SFDS community for making my first year at the Day School – and in San Francisco – such a positive and happy one. As we return from the summer holidays, I am excited to welcome back Dasha Ostrova, our CultureFest and events phenomenon, Karen Swing, our Annual Fund and database guru, and Sarah Pizer-Bush, Director of Communications who has scaled back to three days a week while she pursues a graduate degree in drama therapy.
I would also like to welcome two new members to our Development team:
- Vanessa Alexander, our new Director of Alumni Relations, brings a wealth of experience with her from Yale, Barnard and Town School. As we approach our 30th anniversary next year, I am especially thrilled that the School has committed to a dedicated full-time professional to build our SFDS alumni program.
- Michelle Phillips comes from the business world with a background in marketing and public relations. Michelle will add her marketing and writing skills to Sarah’s graphic design to make our branding, website, e-news, and other communications even more dynamic.
In addition to their regular positions, Vanessa and Michelle are also 8th grade advisors, and Dasha is a 6th grade advisor.
For those of you who are new to San Francisco Day School, the Development Office not only manages the School’s fundraising efforts, but we are also the primary liaison between the Parents Association, our many volunteers, and the administration. While we work at some point during the year with a majority of our current parents, we are the primary point of contact at the School for our alumni, parents of alumni, and our founding families.
While we know we will continue to confront ongoing uncertainty this year on the economic front, we are looking forward to rolling out several new initiatives:
- Completion, communication, and presentation of Strategic Plan 2010 in winter 2011
- Introduction of weekly informal small coffees with the Head of School which will continue throughout the year. Online sign-ups will make it possible for every family to have coffee with David.
- Merging the fall picnic into the Fall Fair/Library Party/ Family Photo Night (Family Fun Fest) on October 3 and 4. We are particularly honored to have Dave Eggers as our featured author for the Library Breakfast on Monday, October 4.
- And, of course, our first State of the School Dinner last night with over 180 guests – we had faculty hosting tables for parents in their classes, 8th grade servers, and reports by Mike Halper, Board President, and Dr. Jackson about his vision for this academic year.
While these changes are exciting, the bulk of our time is spent tending to the business of keeping SFDS financially healthy and secure. Last year, we raised more than $2.3 million from the Annual Fund and Major Gifts. We once again have an ambitious goal for this year’s Annual Fund, but with our dedicated corps of volunteers and committed and generous parents, I am confident that we can and will succeed. Our Annual Fund last year reached almost $1.1 million with a very impressive 95% parent participation rate.
Additionally, we also have CultureFest 2011 to look forward to on May 1. Although the chairs have not yet been announced, I’m sure there will be fun and surprises for one and all.
As we begin to plan our 30th Anniversary celebrations in 2011-2012, we welcome any time, energy and ideas you would care to share… and we always appreciate volunteers for the Annual Fund, CultureFest, Library Party, communications, and any other development initiatives.
It is with gratitude to the entire SFDS community that I welcome you and your children back for a new school year.
