Ethical Culture Fieldston SchoolAnnual Report 2011–2012

Annual Report 2011–2012

Inside

2 Making Our Ideals Real

4 Looking to the Future with Confidence

6 A Year of Progress: The Financial Update

8 Reaching New Heights: The Development Update

10 Celebrating Our Parent Volunteers

12 Celebrating Our Alumni Volunteers

14 Welcoming Our Newest Alumni: Class of 2012 College Choices

16 Donors to the ECF Annual Fund

38 Current Parent Giving by Class

48 Form VI Gift

50 Alumni Giving by Class

61 Parents of Graduates, Grandparents, and Friends

66 Faculty and Staff

67 Programmatic Gifts

68 Endowed Funds

69 Matching Gifts

70 Tribute Gifts

75 Felix Adler Circle

76 ECF’s Annual Benefit

This annual report reflects gifts made to the Ethical Culture Fieldston School

from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. Every effort has been made to ensure

accuracy; should any error have occurred, please call the Office of Institutional

Advancement and Alumni at (212) 712-6245 with any corrections.

Committed to academic excellence, progressive education, and ethical learning, the Ethical Culture Fieldston School

has sustained the integrity of Felix Adler’s mission for over 130 years. Founded in 1878, it now serves 1,700 students

on two campuses. Its two lower school divisions, Ethical Culture and Fieldston Lower, teach grades PreK through 5;

Fieldston Middle teaches grades 6 through 8; Fieldston Upper teaches grades 9 through 12.

1

Ethical Culture Fieldston School

My first year at ECF has been one full of learning and doing, guided by our shared mission and history. We examined

foundational questions and identified aspirations, and we have much to be excited about as we launch the strategic

planning process. In doing so, we will embrace our roots as we seek to enhance progressive education to meet the demands

of the twenty-first century—through technology, multicultural and critical perspectives, interdisciplinary opportunities,

and meaningful engagement with the world.

At the beginning of the year, the board and I selected four areas of focus to inform our work: financial sustainability;

academic excellence; leadership; communication and connection. I am pleased to report that we made great progress on all

fronts. Access and affordability remained a high priority for us, and we worked diligently to contain costs while investing

strategically in enhancements tied to our mission. While we maintained the lowest tuition increase in years for the 2012–2013

school year, we will offer over $11,000,000 dollars in financial aid to nearly 22% of our students, the largest sum ever and

at the top of benchmark institutions. We continued to make excellent progress on environmental sustainability as well,

and are on track to achieve a 30 percent reduction in our carbon footprint. On the operations front, we effectively

managed a $1.4 million capital project budget, including a fund earmarked for deferred maintenance on both campuses.

The NYSAIS Self-Study proved instrumental in putting the four divisions of the school into conversations with one

another that were change-making. These conversations helped to free us to meet, engage, and grow with one another as

we identified areas of growth for the year ahead, including curricular integration and faculty professional development and

evaluation. We made strides to further integrate the PreK–12 experience by introducing a newly formed “Administrative

Summit” at which principals and assistant principals of the four divisions met regularly to discuss curricular initiatives and

best practices. Over the summer, we launched the first Progressive Teaching Institute for incoming teachers as well as any

faculty member looking to hone his or her craft.

Meanwhile, we were busy at work enhancing the foreign language curriculum, the sciences, and bringing ethics back to the

core of our education. At EC, we launched a number of pilot programs in Spanish, including Sábados en Español (Spanish

Saturdays) and this summer’s Juguemos en Español (Let’s Play in Spanish). We commissioned a feasibility study to renovate

Making Our Ideals Real

2

Annual Report 2011–2012

our science labs in FL and the high school, and this summer, a rooftop greenhouse was constructed at Ethical Culture, which

will enrich the science curriculum for years to come. We will continue to make strides in all of these areas in 2012–2013.

We successfully completed searches for two new principals—Rob Cousins at Ethical Culture and Laura Danforth at

Fieldston Upper—who joined us in July. I am thrilled to have permanent and committed educators at the helm of each

division who will work closely with me, sharing our vision for excellence in progressive education. Just as I was this year,

they will be welcomed by a dynamic community that supports our mission wholeheartedly. As evidenced in the subsequent

pages of this book, parents, alumni, grandparents, parents of graduates, faculty, staff, and friends enable us to remain

leaders in progressive education through investments of time and treasure.

Building on the momentum of last year, our focus in 2012–2013 will be on the strategic plan, a re-foundational moment

for the school. We will embrace our school’s mission as we focus on key initiatives to make our ideals real, creating

community by generating consensus regarding key directions for the future. We will continue our work to align curriculum

between our four divisions with the goal of a seamless curriculum from PreK to 12; and we will launch curricular initiatives

that address writing, science and innovation, foreign language and international enrichment, ethics, and technology.

I am fortunate to have had strong partners on the board of trustees and the administrative council to help guide and

support me through my first year at ECF. Thank you to the P&T volunteers across the school for their partnership in

educating all our children and for leading many community-building efforts. Board co-chairs, Laura Jacobs Blankfein ’71

and Tracy Chutorian Semler ’82, have been invaluable throughout the year; and I look forward to working with incoming

co-chairs, Robert A. Pruzan ’81 and Paul Schnell ’72. And thank you to all the supporters of the annual fund and to the

volunteers who have reached out to share the philanthropic message of our school. Thank you all for welcoming me to the

school this year; I look forward to serving the community next year and for years to come.

Damian J. FernandezHead of School

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“While we maintained the lowest tuition increase in years for the 2012–2013 school year, we will offer over $11,000,000 dollars in financial aid to nearly 22% of our students, the largest sum ever and at the top of benchmark institutions.”

3

Ethical Culture Fieldston School

As we conclude our fourth and final year as co-chairs of the ECF board of trustees, we are confident that we have helped

to ensure the school’s well-being into the future by hiring our new head of school, Damian Fernandez. His passion for our

mission, boundless energy, intelligence and creativity will be instrumental in guiding this institution forward in the years

ahead. Collaborating with Damian to lay the groundwork for next year’s strategic planning process has been invigorating,

and we look forward to supporting his work, and that of the new board co-chairs, in the coming years.

A key priority for us over the past four years has been to strengthen and re-energize the board in order to help guide

our school into this next chapter. We made strides in diversifying our board and its committees in terms of professional

expertise, gender, race, and ethnicity and have worked hard to create a deep bench ready for effective board work in the

future. We have also worked to strengthen the experience of board service itself. We implemented an annual board

self-evaluation, and, inspired by the rich progressive education that we offer in our classrooms, we held specially-themed,

interactive and engaging board meetings. Topics included the changing demographics of the U.S. and of New York

City, progressive curricular initiatives at Fieldston such as the interdisciplinary program City Semester, and enhancing

observational and perceptual skills.

With Felix Adler’s founding mission in mind, we worked with the finance committee and the committee on enrollment

and financial aid to increase the portion of our budget devoted to financial aid. Despite a very challenging economic climate,

total dollars allocated to financial aid have increased by over $3 million in the past five years, and in the 2012–2013 academic

year, ECF will offer an unprecedented $11.4 million in financial aid. Ours is the largest commitment of dollars to financial

aid among our peer schools. We have also focused on addressing the hidden costs of an ECF education, and joined with

our enrollment and financial aid committee to conduct a survey of our peer schools’ approach to expenses such as school

trips, books and supplies, and transportation. As a result of our efforts, the lower schools are now fully inclusive, and the

middle and upper schools are getting closer to this goal as we build some of these significant costs into tuition while at the

same time providing support for these expenses to students on financial aid.

Looking to the Future with Confidence

4

Annual Report 2011–2012

The development committee, working closely with the Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumni, had a

groundbreaking year. Donations to the annual fund reached an all-time high, with members of the community

contributing over $3.7 million in unrestricted support for ECF’s mission. We are extremely proud of the levels of parental

and alumni participation in annual giving (79 percent for parents, 20 percent for alumni, respectively), without which

the school could not thrive. Additionally, the 2012 annual benefit was a tremendous success. Over 1,000 members of the

ECF community gathered at Pier 60 in New York City and, together raised over $1,100,000 to support ECF’s mission,

including $325,000 for financial aid. It was an extraordinary community-wide effort.

We are thrilled to welcome the next board co-chairs, Robert Pruzan ’81 and Paul Schnell ’72, who have worked tirelessly

as co-chairs of the board’s finance committee and members of the executive committee. Robert has played a key role in the

school’s budget process and has helped map financial aid funding into the future, while Paul deftly led the inclusive search

for Damian. The board and school are fortunate to have their leadership going forward.

We thank our fellow trustees, including our honorary trustees, whose wise counsel enabled us to steer through some

challenging times in the past four years. Thank you to all of the hardworking administrators who have served on our board

committees and supported our work. Thank you to our dedicated non-trustee committee members, including many faculty

members, who gave of their time and expertise to further the school’s goals. Thank you to the incredible ECF community

for your contribution of time, ideas, enthusiasm, and treasure. And finally, thank you to Damian, for your unwavering

commitment to ECF’s mission; partnering with you has made our “senior” year wonderfully fulfilling.

We have been honored to serve as board co-chairs, and look forward to continuing to support the work of the board and

the school we love in the years to come.

laura Jacobs Blankfein ’71Co-Chair, ECF Board of Trustees

Tracy Chutorian semler ’82Co-Chair, ECF Board of Trustees

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“Donations to the annual fund reached an all-time high, with members of the community contributing over $3.7 million in unrestricted support for ECF’s mission.”

5

The year 2011–2012 was filled with exciting initiatives and milestones at the school. Under the leadership of Damian Fernandez,

we focused on key mission-advancing priorities such as financial sustainability and affordability, leadership in environmental practices,

and physical plant improvements.

The school produced a balanced budget for the 2011–2012 fiscal year, allowing for mission-focused developments on a number of

fronts. We awarded a total of $10.8 million in tuition assistance to 22% of our students, and financial aid policies were enhanced to

cover books and supplies for middle and upper school students. Meanwhile, we carefully managed operational expenses while increasing

professional development opportunities, and are pleased that tuition for the year ahead reflects our lowest increase in over a decade.

The school continues to make progress in our environmental sustainability efforts. Initiatives in 2011–2012 included receiving

official certification for our cafeterias as three-star green restaurants by the Green Restaurant Association. High efficiency water-

A Year of Progress: The Financial Update

$0

$10,000,000

$20,000,000

$30,000,000

$40,000,000

$50,000,000

$60,000,000

$70,000,000

$80,000,000

$65,280,000

$60,996,000

$58,445,000

$49,515,000

$55,571,000

$65,184,000

2011–2012

2010–2011

2009–2010

2008–2009

2007–2008

2006–2007

enDOwMenT

$0

$2,000,000

$4,000,000

$6,000,000

$8,000,000

$10,000,000

$12,000,000

$10,800,000

$6,612,000

$7,496,000

$8,099,000

$9,335,000

$9,987,000

2011–2012

2010–2011

2009–2010

2008–2009

2007–2008

2006–2007

FinanCial aiD

6

Annual Report 2011–2012

unrestricted giving$3,500,000 – 6%

TOTal OperaTing revenue $62,475,000

related & auxiliary programs

$2,500,000 – 4%

Tuition & Fees$53,500,000 – 85%

investment income$2,975,000 – 5%

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TOTal OperaTing expenses $61,880,000

instruction/pupil support

$23,100,000 – 37%

administration/Operations

$13,802,000 – 22%

employeeBenefits

$10,800,000 – 18%

Facilityservices

$8,275,000 – 13%

Technology$1,667,000 – 3%

interest expense$1,537,000 – 3%

Fiscal services$1,406,000 – 2%

related & auxiliary programs

$1,293,000 – 2%

heaters, vegan and locally-sourced food options, zero VOC (volatile organic compound) paints and coatings, and composting all

led to this certification. ECF is the only Pre-K–12 school in the country to receive the three-star rating, securing our position as

a national leader in green dining.

Physical plant and facilities improvements were also made during the year, including renovations of classrooms and public areas,

and deferred maintenance projects. We continued to address ADA access on both campuses, most notably creating handicapped

accessible entrances to the 100s and 400s buildings in the upper school over the summer.

None of these financial and operational achievements would have been possible without the tremendous support and commitment

from all of the committees of the board. Thank you to Nino Magliocco, audit committee chair; John Beres ’81, buildings and grounds

committee chair; Robert Pruzan ’81 and Paul Schnell ’72, finance committee chairs; and John Feingold, investments committee chair.

Michael hwangChief Financial Officer

TOTal giving $7,641,663

promises to keep

$1,168,200 – 15%

special events$1,102,377 –

14%

programmatic Funds

$1,065,371 – 14%

endowment$592,800 – 8%

annual Fund$3,712,915 – 49%

7

Ethical Culture Fieldston School

ECF’s fundraising efforts once again soared to new heights in the 2011–2012 fiscal year, thanks to the

generosity of the entire ECF community. In total, ECF received over $3.7 million in gifts to the Annual Fund

from over 2,500 donors, in addition to over $1.1 million raised through the benefit. These results would not

have been possible without the tireless dedication of the many parents, students, alumni, faculty and staff who

partner with the Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumni throughout the year. Thank you to all of our

volunteers, and to all of the members of the community who generously support ECF’s mission year after year.

eCF reaChes new reCOrD in parenT parTiCipaTiOn Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our Parent

Annual fund Volunteer Effort (PAVE), the ECF

Annual Fund had a record-breaking year in terms of

parent participation and total dollars raised. Our PAVE

volunteers worked tirelessly throughout the year to

increase participation in the annual fund, writing personal

notes, making phone calls, and sending emails. Their

efforts resulted in an increase in parent participation to

79%, a 3 percentage point increase from the previous year.

We are thankful to our many volunteers, as well as our

parent donors, for helping to make this our best annual

fund campaign to date!

aluMni vOlunTeers The Alumni Volunteer Network had another packed

year and our community benefited from the tireless efforts

of many alumni volunteers. Alumni turned out in droves

to support Homecoming, the Annual Fund Benefit,

Phone-a-Thons and delivered a record number of class notes.

In March, the Alumni Volunteer Network supported the

Class of 2013’s Special Olympics competition at Fieldston.

With the help of our many loyal and tireless

volunteers, alumni participation in the annual fund

reached a record 20%. In addition, ECF won the Hilltop

Challege for alumni annual fund participation. Thanks

to all the alumni volunteers who helped in this year and

participated in programs across ECF!

eCF COMMuniTY raises aDDiTiOnal $250,000 ThrOugh MaTChing ChallengeThis fall, a group of anonymous donors came together

to boost support for ECF by offering up to $250,000 to

match new and increased gifts to the annual fund. The

response from the ECF community was overwhelming. In

just one month, 177 donors increased their gift from last

year by a total of $127,000, while 249 new donors made

gifts totaling $236,000! These additional gifts have directly

benefited our students, faculty, and staff by providing vital

support for the ECF Annual Fund.

CeleBraTing The CiTY anD eCFThis year’s benefit was ECF’s most successful to date,

raising over $1.1 million to support the school’s mission.

On March 10, 2012, over 1,000 members of the ECF

community gathered at Chelsea Piers to celebrate

our wonderful city and school. Guests were treated

to the flavors of New York while bidding on a wide

selection of live, silent, and “Metro Mystery” prizes.

At the conclusion of the live auction, members of the

community rallied together to raise over $325,000 to

support tuition assistance during the “Big Give” for

financial aid. As always, the benefit was a wonderful

celebration of ECF’s amazing community.

aluMni reuniOn suCCess!Fieldston alumni from classes ending in 2 and 7 turned

out in record numbers for this year’s quinquennial

reunions. Over 500 Fieldston alumni and their guests

turned out for a gorgeous June evening filled with

reminiscing and good times. Alumni toured the campus

by way of an interactive self-guided tour, enjoyed

cocktails on the sun-drenched quad and dinner with their

classmates. The 2012 reunions proved to be inspiration

for many to give back, as all of our reunion classes

meaningfully increased their annual fund participation

and, in total, contributed $378,473.

Reaching New Heights: The Development Update

8

Annual Report 2011–2012

Class OF 2012 esTaBlishes FinanCial aiD FunDBefore marching across the stage at graduation, the

Class of 2012 worked together to leave behind a legacy

that will help support future generations of Fieldston

scholars. Both students and their parents contributed,

and in total, the class raised more than $156,000

to support financial aid, with over 70% of families

contributing to this meaningful gift.

FielDsTOn lOwer pre-k anD FirsT graDe reaCh 100% parTiCipaTiOn In June, a group of donors issued a challenge for ECF’s

parent community: for each grade that achieved 100%

participation, the donors would provide an additional

$2,500 to support ECF’s Annual Fund. We are thrilled

to announce that Fieldston Lower’s Pre-K and First

Grade both reached 100% participation, earning

$5,000 to support ECF’s mission!

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Thanks to the generosity of the ECF community, contributions to the annual fund have increased steadily over the last few years.

$0

$500,000

$1,000,000

$1,500,000

$2,000,000

$2,500,000

$3,000,000

$3,500,000

$4,000,000

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

$3,700,000

$3,400,000

$3,240,000

$2,930,000

$2,860,000

annual FunD COnTriBuTiOns

20%

20%

19%16%

14%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

aluMni parTiCipaTiOn

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

79%76%73%68%

54%

parenT parTiCipaTiOn

9