2014-15 Annual Report - Sunstone Montessori School

2014-2015 Annual Report
Contact Information
2014-15
Sunstone Montessori School
6318 SW Corbett Avenue
Portland, OR 97239
503 - 768 - 3847
www.sunstonemontessori.org
Dear Families and Friends of Sunstone,
What a year it has been! We accomplished so much over the course of a
school year: we had a well attended Oxbow family camping trip; a
successful, sunny Fall Festival; a crafty and lyrical Winter Sing/Solstice; a
Gatsby Gala (with some fabulous outfits and props); and an African
themed, energetic Shakespeare performance of A Midsummer Night’s
Dream. I’d say that’s a good year!
One of my favorite memories from this year was Earth Day. Our Earth
Day celebration is special in our community because one of our principles
is Responsibility, and we strive to embody that principle by stewarding the
Earth. On Earth Day this year, we started a very special project to make
storm water improvements around our campus. This project was funded
by a grant and partnership made possible by the Community Watershed
Stewardship Program, Environmental Services City of Portland, and
Portland State University. We have made the following improvements: we
planted the vegetated strip; mounded the earth on the hill above the strip;
and enlarged the Huckleberry outdoor space. Other highlights of the year
include the planting and phenomenal growth of our garden near the
Sunflower Cottage.
This year, at Sunstone Montessori School, has been one of growth in
many areas. As we continue to reach out to our broader community, we
expanded our AYM program and saw our enrollment grow slightly as well.
We added enrichment programs such as yoga and soccer, and we continue
to look for other opportunities to share with our afterschool community.
I thank all of our donors and volunteers who support Sunstone
Montessori School. Your financial support and your dedicated time and
expertise enable us to achieve our goals year after year. Thank you for a
great 2014-2015!
Cathy Newman
Head of School
2014-2015 Board of Trustees
Sunstone Montessori School is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) educational
organization, governed by a Board of Trustees.
President
David Smith
Treasurer
Karen Bettencourt Alumni SMS Parent
Karen J. Probst LLC.
Secretary
Jerry Elliott
Current SMS Parent
Centerstance
Current SMS Parent
Elliott, Ostrander & Preston, P.C.
Head of School &
Cathy Newman
AMI Representative
Alumni SMS Parent
Member
David Allen
Current SMS Parent
Sparta
Member
Kraig Anderson
Current SMS parent
Moda Health
Member
Kathy Brooks
Current SMS Parent
Talent Direct
Member
Kristen Connor
Current SMS Parent
Pacific Continental Bank
Member
Sean Murphy
Friend of the School
Retired
Member
Susan Ong
Friend of the School
Member
Lynn Rossing
AMI Representative
Multnomah County
Dept. of Community Justice
Member
Jeff Wiles
Alumni SMS Parent
Retired
Mission
Sunstone Montessori School is a community that nurtures the next
generation of: Explorers of their World; Stewards of the Earth; Lovers
of Learning; and Skilled Contributors to Society.
Vision
Our vision is to develop a community of curious,
independent, and compassionate people.
Financial Aid and Tuition Discounts
Financial aid is an important offering at Sunstone Montessori School. We
believe a Montessori education should not be out of reach financially for
families. We carefully consider all requests and seek to accommodate as
many requests as possible. Last year, we allocated six percent of operating
expenses to financial aid and tuition discounts. Our financial aid program
helped 25 students last year.
Every year Sunstone offers a tuition discount to families who have multiple children who attend our school. Last year, our tuition discount program assisted 63 students at our school.
Fundraising
Sunstone Montessori School has consistently maintained a tuition rate that
meets 90% or greater of our operation costs. We rely on fundraising to fill
the operational gap, make improvements to the campus, provide consistent financial aid/tuition discounts and progressively build a long-term
operating reserve.
Our parent body is instrumental in our fundraising efforts, volunteering
hundreds of hours to the success of several fundraising events each year.
Our tradition includes For Small Hands Catalog sales, live auction and
pledge drive. We are in the youthful yet fully committed stages of building
a fundraising effort towards the local charitable foundation and corporate
community.
Financial Results
Income
Tuition, Childcare & Fees
Fundraising
Total
$2,342,000
111,000
$2,453,000
95%
5%
100%
Expenses
Payroll, Taxes and Benefits
Financial Aid & Tuition Discounts
Classroom Expenses
Operating Expenses
Total
$ 1,550,000
135,000
514,000
143,000
$2,342,000
66%
6%
22%
6%
100%
Facilities Update
Over the past year we made several improvements to our campus. Most
notably, we worked with volunteers to create a beautiful garden and
outdoor space between the Sunflower and Huckleberry cottages. This
special place has a cedar arbor, plants, logs to climb on, bird feeders and
trails to be enjoyed year-round. We also improved our storm water
drainage with a grant funded by the Community Watershed Stewardship
Program, Environmental Services City of Portland and Portland State
University. Finally, we worked closely with our parents, students and staff
to develop a masterplan for our outdoor space with Learning Landscapes,
LLC. This aspirational project allowed us to dream big and create a vision
for the future.
Program Update
Sunstone offers high-quality accredited Montessori education to 180 children from 16 months through 6th grade. These are the three levels of
training and pedagogy (Toddler, Children's House, and Elementary)
recognized by the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). Having
the full age range present at the school allows for rich and constructive
interactions across age groups, with older children walking younger ones
to class, sharing community activities, and taking part in peer teaching and
learning.
Sunstone continues to attract and retain highly trained, experienced faculty
with additional background in areas such as public Montessori, outdoor
education, and Non-Violent Communication, to name just a few.
Sunstone teachers recently participated in a weekend continuing education
intensive presented by Portland's AMI teacher training center, Montessori
Northwest, and will travel to Los Angeles in February to attend the annual
AMI Refresher Course.
2014-2015 List of Donors
$10,000 and above
Celeste Trapp and Brian Wannamaker
$5,000-$9,999
Karen Bettencourt
Kathy and David Brooks
Kathleen and Jerry Elliott
Moda
Donna Duong and Bruce Tran
UPM Marketing
$2,500-$4,999
Kelly and David Allen
Kaiser Permanente
Target
$1,000-$2,499
Shannon Connelly and Michael Phillips
*Lesley and Steve Day
*Kate and Elliott de Bruin
Kunrath & Willard Insurance Services LLC
Mind Matters
Monica and Jason Motsko
Sean Murphy
Pacific Continental Bank
Christen and Ryan Palmer
*Cici Polson and Kraig Anderson
Libby Schwartz and David Smith
Lian Wang and Jie Lian
Jeff Wiles
*Beena and Andy Wood
$500-$999
Lisa and Mike Bevins
Laura and Charlie Brooks
Kristen Connor
Monika Davare and Siva Narendra
Edward Jones
Jennifer and Chuck Friese
Catherine and Geoffrey Harvey
Julie and Nishan Karassik
Littler Mendelson Foundation, Inc.
Melvin Mark
Mark and Cathy Newman
Susan Ong and David Norris
Bonney Pelley and Patrick O'Brien
Lynn and Garry Rossing
Xubo Song and Homer Chin
Matt Swafford
$100-$499
Hanisi and Alex Accetta
Liesl Andrico
Sheree and Kory Arntson
Connie and Philip Barbar
Gaffney and Dirk Barnett
Ellen Bergstrom and Dan Wasil
Carrie Caffee-Martin and Erik Martin
Lisa and Magnus Carlsson
Jennifer Cunliffe and Matthew Whorton
Karen Cunliffe
Elizabeth and Matt Dacey
*Mahsa Darabi and Ali Panahpour
Emily and Alex Guimaraes
Debbie and Travis Hall
Here We Go Again
Elise Hunke-Stone and David Ayer
Cibyl Kavan
Brenda Koenig
J.B. Leahy
Tricia Leahy
Jody Lindwall and Adam Garmon
Leslie Logan
Donette Miranda and Jeffrey Blank
Marissa and Ross Moser
Senia and Stewart Newman
Leah Nobilette and Shawn Kolitch
James Phelps
Emma Pribnow
Julene Quinn
Laura Sciortino and John Berg
Kathryn Smetana
Laura and Darren Stensland
Virginia Stone
Karen Strobeck and Leif Lindseth
Switch Clothing
Michael Thrailkill
Monica Wright
$1-$99
Veronica Araneda and Clay Sparkman
Anna Ardizzone
Martha and Glenn Bailey
Tom Becic
Jessica Bettelheim and Matthew Flamming
Ian Bowen and Vicky Buelow
La Toya Carruthers
Megan Derrick
Jessica Douglass
Carrie and Christopher Folkestad
Jacquelin Grant
Clare Gravenall and Mike Ware
Rachel Heath
Amy Hutchinson
Laurel Jamtgaard and Don Rasmusson
Annabeth Jensen and Scott Grice
Diana and Michael Johnson
Michael G. Johnson
*Lisa Karplus and Gilbert Neiger
Ava Lichter
Emilie Machon and Clay Card
Sarah Miller
Sharon and Warren Moliken
Annie and Paul Niedergang
Jennifer and Ryan Niemeyer
Vickie Novinger
Ashley Preece-Sackett and Jeremy Sackett
Neelam and Mihir Ravel
Sharo Reyes
Natalie Rotheray
Jennifer and Robert Ryznar
Sylvia and Robert Salazar
Stephanie Satori
Patti Seitz and Peter Field
Talia Sheldon-Desjardins
Kelly Stark
Julie Stumpf and Eric Miller
Ky Thai
Deedra and Beau Weill
Shawna and Colin Williams
Carolann and Jack Zinda
Belinda Zylberman
Matching Gifts
Intel
Key Bank
Microsoft
Moda
Personal Choice
PGE
UBS
Donors with an * next to their names
utilized their employer’s matching gift
program.
Sunstone Montessori School is grateful
for all charitable donations. We make
every attempt to recognize and thank
each and every donor. We apologize for
any that may potentially be missing or
listed incorrectly on this list.
Commitment to Diversity
Sunstone Montessori School welcomes students and staff of any race, disability,
veteran status, sexual orientation, color, nationality and ethnicity, religion, and
family constellation to all programs and activities at the school. The school does
not discriminate in its educational, hiring, admission, or school-administered
policies. It is our goal that Sunstone Montessori School reflects the rich diversity
of our community, including varied cultures, economic status, and individual or
special educational needs.