Head of School
 |
Ms. Patricia Swenson
Head of School |
February 9, 2012
Dear Parents,
As we move into the second half of our year and begin planning for 2012-13, I would like to update you on current activities in our St. Richard’s community that I believe you will find very encouraging. I would also like to give you pertinent information regarding your child’s online re-enrollment.
This year we have given much attention to the 3 R’s on which I’ve asked the faculty and staff to focus: Recruitment, Retention and Relationships.
Recruitment of fifty-six new students and thirty-four new families to our PK through seventh grades allowed us to open the year with 294 students. We recently enjoyed a mid-year enrollment surge, increasing our total enrollment to 304. Marketing strategies are ongoing, including Open Houses for small and large groups of prospective families, individual tours, play-based observations and shadow days. While attendance at Open Houses was somewhat down from previous years, tours were up by 100 %. Public radio promotions, external student performances and recent student awards have raised awareness of St. Richard’s in Indianapolis.
We have introduced children new to St. Richard’s to the five Pillars for Success…Classic Curriculum, Faith, Leadership, Civic Responsibility and Global Readiness and have remained focused on the retention of all SRES students. It continues to be our commitment to offer each child an educational experience that is of the highest caliber. A recent year-end report to the Board of Trustees by Division Heads, Abby Williams and Kathi Keen, and national ERB consultant, Ann Harris, indicated excellent student achievement on our standardized tests, as compared to other independent schools in the nation, an indication of exceptional teaching by our faculty. In my thirty-plus meetings with parents of students new to SRES this year, I found their satisfaction with the school to be extremely high. Current fourth grade parents recently attended a Middle Division Open House to facilitate the next steps in their child’s transition into the Middle Division in 2012-13. Parent impressions of the Middle Division were extremely favorable. Our faculty is routinely engaged in retention efforts and will participate in a Professional Development Day that is planned to address the needs of international students and adopted children. Our new Early Childhood/Lower Division Science Lab and upcoming events including the School Musical, Math and Science Night, the Entrepreneurship Academy and the 5th grade Back to Back program set St. Richard’s apart from other schools in the city as we continue to focus on offering value-added services for our students and families.
Trust in our educational model is being nourished daily through frequent conversations and communications with all constituencies, helping to build relationships, individually and collectively. A winter Rendezvous Party coordinated by the Parent Organization and hosted by Dr. and Mrs. Howard J. Lacy, IV, was hugely successful and served as an internal community builder. Contacts with our SRES Alumni are continuing on Facebook and through blogging. The Campus Planning Committee, consisting of members from SRES and Trinity Church, is collaboratively working on the long term expansion of our shared campus. Neighborhood engagement includes work with the Trinity Outreach Center, Project Home Indy, IPS School 60, Shortridge High School, the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, and the Historic Meridian Park Neighborhood Association. Mindful of our Episcopal identity, a plan is currently underway with the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis to assist with the General Convention that will be hosted in the city during the month of July. Also on a national level, Horizons National is helping to fund the re-start of the St. Richard’s Horizons Summer Youth Program for disadvantaged neighborhood students. All of these relationships are child-centered and mission driven.
As directed by the Board of Trustees, the administrative team has engaged in the beginning of a long range Strategic Plan for programming. Some endeavors are current upgrades to existing programs, while other ideas will need future dollars to implement. Math and science continue to be areas of focus.
The highly committed Search Committee, led by Ted Planje, Jr., has dedicated hours of time to ensure a transparent process with much communication. I am encouraged that this intense, focused search process will identify a strong Head of School to lead St. Richard’s into the future.
The work of the Board of Trustees and the Foundation Board remain critical to our success and sustainability. Strategic emphasis on enrollment, marketing and the Endowment is central to their work. Institutional advancement in development is also being mapped out at the committee level and in the Development Office. Through your generosity and that of SRES friends, the Annual Fund is targeted to hit $225K by June 30. Regalia, our annual fundraiser, chaired this year by dedicated chair-women, Betsy Harvey, Sara Fleury and Amie Peele-Carter, is slated for March 3rd. We are counting on your support to reach the anticipated goal of over $100K.
Online re-enrollment for current students will begin next Friday, February 17. You will soon receive instructions for this new process from our Admission Director, Melinda Fisher. It is my hope that your desire to re-enroll will be validated by the ongoing successes of the institution and by the value you place on the education that your child receives at St. Richard’s each day.
As is always the case, the Board carefully considers family sensitivity to tuition increases, along with the financial health of the institution. In doing so, a new tuition structure has been created for 2012-13. In hopes of encouraging additional entry-level recruitment and Early Childhood retention that strengthens enrollment in the upper grades, the Early Childhood increase is slightly less than other levels. Please note that the breakdown is as follows:
Early Childhood (PK –K) $13,950
Grades 1-5 $14,160
Grades 6-8 $14,780
As you know, independent school education is inherently costly. With a student-teacher ratio of 8:1, St. Richard's gives its faculty members the freedom to use their full talents and experience in the classroom, continually refines its classical curriculum, and offers important educational, social, and spiritual opportunities. In addition, SRES faces special cost pressures on a budget dominated by salaries and benefits, especially the ongoing escalation of health care costs and the need to increase the salaries of a dedicated faculty and staff. St. Richard's also continues to pay down the balance of a line of credit that spiked during the middle of the last decade. The elimination of that debt is now in sight. And, finally, the school faces a number of basic expenses -- food is at the top of the list -- for which prices are rising more quickly than the rate of inflation.
I hope that you will find the tuition increases respectful of your family circumstances. While the retention of your child is internally driven, please note that recruitment can be best served by your external engagement with neighbors and friends who may be interested in SRES. Your help is essential to full enrollment. Full enrollment will equate to less of a burden being placed on our tightly stretched budget and will allow for non-budgeted enhancements to the program.
As evidenced throughout my commentary, the school is doing well and will continue to do so with your support! If you have questions about next year, please do not hesitate to ask. We want to work collaboratively with our families to provide the very best program possible. Your children are our daily blessing…thank you for sharing your precious gifts!
Hope to see you at Regalia on March 3rd. Reservations are still available and auction donations are still encouraged!
With gratitude,
Patricia Swenson
Head of School
Head of School letter December 22, 2011
Head of School letter October 28, 2011
Head of School letter September 7, 2011
Head of School letter July 19, 2011
