2012-2013 Annual Report

N E W B U I L D I N G C O N S T R U C T I O N | G R A D U AT I O N R E F L E C T I O N S | B O A R D N E W S
S T R AT E G I C P L A N N I N G | D O N O R L I S T | A L U M N I P R O F I L E S | G O O D B Y E S
ANNUAL REPORT 2012-2013
IN THIS ISSUE...
From the Faculty Chair
1
From the Board of Directors
2
Financial Report
Last summer I attended a national conference of Waldorf teachers and
3
Strategic Plan: Our Vision for the Future
4
Early Childhood Building Updates
5
Congratulations Eighth Grade
6
Congratulations Class of 2013
7
High School News
administrators. On July 4th we heard from Torin Finser, author, general secretary
of the Anthroposophical Society in America, and education department chair at
Antioch University New England. He noted that institutions such as schools have
biographies and that the concluding of a generation, defined as thirty-three years,
is a particularly important time. Hartsbrook was then entering its thirty-third year.
I listened attentively despite the summer heat.
8
Community in Action
9
Land Stewardship
10
Alumni News
12
Tribute to Elizabeth Sustick
12
Hartsbrook Highlights
14
Contributors Thank You
17
New Board Members
EDITOR: Karen Bates
Director of Development, Hartsbrook School
COPY EDITORS: Jon Lackman and Jan Baudendistel
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Lori Lynn Hoffer
Waterlily Design, Leverett, MA
In the year since, I have reflected on Hartsbrook’s ongoing change-over of
generations—on what must be completed by the first generation and what future
generations must yet take up.
I thought especially on the new early childhood building, which will welcome our
youngest students to the main campus. At last, all our students will have one,
shared home, a dream we’ve nursed since the school was founded. More
buildings will come—a community hall and gym, a garden classroom, arts and
administrative spaces—but it feels like our campus’s first phase is complete.
The dual accreditation we achieved last year reflects a different kind of
maturity. We took stock of how far we’ve come and how much work remains to
align our ideals with reality. And we won the approval of not one but two
accrediting bodies!
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Lori Lynn Hoffer & Chip Weems
Additional photos: Meg Fisher, Penny Herter
THE HARTSBROOK SCHOOL
193 BAY ROAD, HADLEY, MA 01035
413-586-1908
WWW.HARTSBROOK.ORG
Finally, our new strategic plan, completed last year, has planted the seeds of what
will grow and ripen with the next generation’s tending. We set two particularly
important goals, one inner, the other outer—better professional development for
faculty and staff, and improved communication—which seem fitting, as we always
strive to deepen our work and to share it more widely.
- LOUISE SpEAr, Faculty Chair
MIXED SOURCES
Product group from well-managed forests, controlled source
and recycled wood or fiber. Printed with vegetable inks.
Printer uses 50% hydro-electric power.
From the Board of Directors
Like our children and nature itself, The Hartsbrook School
This year our campus also grew by thirty-three acres.
The agricultural land adjacent to campus was donated by
longtime Hartsbrook supporters Alexander and Olivia
Dreier, parents of Matthew, 8thG ‘93 and Lucas, 8thG
‘95. This gift will help the School maintain its bucolic
character and offer new options for our land stewardship
program. It is protected from future
development by a state Agricultural
Preservation Restriction.
continues on its journey of growth and change. During
the past year we hit supremely significant milestones,
completing a thorough strategic plan and breaking
ground on a new early childhood building.
The strategic plan came out of the
accreditation process we completed last
year, an important benchmark that
brought together the whole school
community to develop a vision for
Hartsbrook’s future. To refine and clarify
that vision Swansea Bleicher, Rosemary
McNaughton, and Jeff Kalman agreed to
lead the Strategic Planning Committee,
and I encourage everyone to get
involved in its efforts.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2012-2013
Dr. Andrew Moskovitz, Chairman
Noah Smith, Treasurer
Swansea Benham Bleicher
Tupper Brown
Tony Cape
Jacqui DeFelice
Virginia McWilliam
Joseph Moore
David ranen
Bryant rother
Elizabeth Sustick
Dennis Szuhay
Anne Woodhull
The Board of Directors continues to
change as well. This year we welcomed
high school teacher Tony Cape and
parents Dave Ranen, Bryant Rother,
and Jacqui DeFelice. They bring
invigorating new voices to the
Hartsbrook leadership community.
We also say goodbye to a few Board
members. Elizabeth Sustick has worked
tirelessly behind the scenes to help
Hartsbrook grow into the vigorous and
growing school we know today. I
personally would like to thank Elizabeth
for the support and guidance she has
provided me as board chair. Joe Moore
and Noah Smith have been on the
Board for comparatively short periods of
time, yet their impact has also been
significant. Both must step away to
attend to other obligations, but I am
hopeful they will rejoin the Board soon.
Our school’s future depends critically on
our early childhood program. Last year
we sold our Ben Smith building and
moved its pre-kindergarten classes into
a temporary home on the main campus.
Last fall, at the recommendation of the
Early Childhood Building Committee led
by Alex Jansen, the Board hired
Kraus-Fitch Architects. We are now
working with Wright Builders and
immediately after school recessed in
June we broke ground on the new
building, which will contain the essential
spaces and character for three Waldorf classrooms.
Construction will continue through the fall for occupancy
in late December.
Blessings on our work!
- ANDY MOSKOVITZ, Chair, Board of Directors
1
Financial Report
As we complete our first year on one campus and look forward
decide how much to raise tuition and/or how much
to cut programs. When we project a budget surplus, we
see how we can lower tuition and/or implement
improvements identified as important by the current
Strategic Plan.
to the opening of the new early childhood building, I am
happy to report that our budgets for this fiscal year and
the next are balanced, thanks especially to our strong
enrollment and fundraising.
How does the “annual fund” relate to the annual
budget? We budget for the annual fund goal that
development director Karen Bates has set, and those
donations are added to the school’s tuition income. Why
have an annual fund? Why not just raise tuition instead?
The annual fund shaves 3% off the average tuition bill by
letting individuals who can afford to pay more do so, on
a tax-deductible basis. We strive for 100% participation,
but we expect that people will give according to their
ability. Some find it odd that that these funds aren’t
earmarked for particular projects, but this procedure
allows the school to spend the money flexibly according
to its needs.
The new building is on-budget and on-time, and our
contractor has guaranteed its price! It was funded
without incurring debt or siphoning operating expenses.
It was funded by the sale of the Ben Smith building, the
Early Childhood Endowment, surplus contingency
accounts, and gifts enabling us to construct a greener
building and to make essential enhancements possible.
How does the finance committee propose tuition and
budgets? We start by looking at last year’s expenses, we
tweak elements we know have changed (insurance
premiums, the cost of heating oil, et cetera), we augment
salaries for the cost of living, and we accommodate
program changes (changes in assistants or electives, for
instance). This provides an estimate of future expenses
and revenue needs. We then estimate enrollment, based
on typical attrition and conversion rates, paying close
attention to the incoming first and ninth grades. We
then calculate probable revenues and look at the bottom
line. We try not to raise tuition by any more than the
personnel’s cost-of-living increase, but if enrollment has
dipped without an equal reduction in overhead, we must
Donations:
7%
Other
Income: .5%
Every fall, a fiscal statement is made available to the
public; questions about it can be directed to our new
treasurer Bryant Rother at [email protected]. Bryant,
father to eighth-grader Olivia, has worked in financial
services for eighteen years. (He is profiled on page 17.)
- NOAH W. SMITH, Treasurer, Board of Directors
Program
Costs: 7%
Property
Sale: 6%
Plant and
Equipment:
13%
Plant &
Equipment: 11%
Figure 1.
Hartsbrook
School
Income
Admin/
General: 3%
Tuition
Assistance:
14%
Figure 2.
Hartsbrook
School
Expenses
Personnel:
62%
Tuition and
Fees: 86%
EXPENSES: These were kept slightly below income for the
fiscal year. As usual, salaries, benefits and taxes loomed
largest, at 62% of expenses. We continue to award the
faculty modest step raises. Compared with similar schools,
our salaries are low, but our benefits are more generous.
Other major costs are outlined in Figure 2.
INCOME: Last fiscal year, Hartsbrook collected about $3.5
million (Figure 1). Tuition and fees generated 86% of the total,
gifts 7% (triple last year’s percentage), and the sale of the Ben
Smith building 6%. We are grateful to the community members
who volunteered for fundraisers and contributed funds,
playground equipment, school supplies, and so much more!
2
Strategic Plan: Our Vision for the Future
We have come a long way in the year since we began the strategic planning process. We first solicited suggestions from
students, parents, faculty, board, administration, and others. We then formed subgroups, which analyzed the
information gathered, made recommendations, and helped those get turned into action:
Pedagogy/Curriculum & Teacher Development
governance
Next year’s professional-development funds have been
augmented. Faculty have worked to deepen the
middle-school curriculum and identify important topics
for parent evenings.
Articles have been written for the Bulletin about school
governance. The Parent Council created a PowerPoint
presentation that illustrates the school’s governance
structure, helping to demystify this topic.
Enrollment & Marketing/Outreach
Campus Planning
An Enrollment Committee has formed to support the
department by improving its communications to the
School and the local community.
Campus Planning is on track: The early childhood
building should be ready for occupancy in December.
After it is complete, the campus’s Master Plan will be
updated to address the school’s needs in parking,
athletics, performance, play structures and the land
stewardship program.
Development & Fundraising
Development Committee members report that they
have used our Plan to improve their operations, which
will now include better communication with alumni and
improved IT.
In short, progress has been made in every area. Most
inspiring has been the dedication of parents, board and
faculty members who have spent hour upon hour making
our school better!
Communications & Community Building
A group of dedicated parents, board, and faculty
members met multiple times to reestablish and renew
the Hartsbrook Parent Council. They have set out an
ambitious agenda for the new year that includes creating
buddies for new parents.
- SWANSEA BENHAM BLEICHER,
Board Member and Parent
PARENTS ON STRATEgIC PLANNINg:
“What struck me most about the meeting was the opportunity to hear differences in experience and sentiments voiced by
parents about the school... I wish that more parents had been present to share their perspectives about the present and their
hopes for the future of the school!”
“This is going to be fun!”
“The strategic plan meeting gave us the opportunity to generate ideas, to listen to one another and I was in awe of people's
passion and dedication to Hartsbrook.”
Parent
CounCil
Leading the way, JIM PIERMARINI (father to 4th grader Jasper) spear-headed
the relaunch of the Hartsbrook Parent Council. He is enthusiastically joined by
board members Virginia McWilliam, Swansea Benham Bleicher, Annie Woodhull
and David Ranen, as they form the Parent Council Team. The council is working
to create a fun and welcoming organization that inspires all parents to get
involved in the life of the school.
3
Early Childhood Building
A WORk IN PROgRESS
The design process began with community
meetings to solicit ideas from parents and
others. Participants called for an
environmentally sensitive building that
would help maintain the good health of its
inhabitants and the planet. Kraus-Fitch
Architects and the building committee
embraced this idea, by designing for
example a south-facing roof that can
accommodate solar panels. An additional
effort is now underway to finance an 8 KW
solar array for the roof. Also, the classrooms
are daylit (but not too bright) and they
emphasize natural materials such as wood
and linoleum.
Our early-childhood teachers also helped
craft the design. A large front porch
welcomes and shelters children and their
parents. It leads to a practical, child-scaled
entry with a bench in a cozy niche, creating
comfort and a sense of place. A bright
corridor that is anything but institutional
looks out onto the older childrens’ play yard,
giving the younger ones a visual connection
to their elders. The classrooms themselves
are shielded from distracting views and
open directly onto the early-childhood play
yard, which allows for free movement and
reinforces the children’s connection
to the natural world.
HOW THE BUILDINg WAS FUNDED
In the 2011-12 fiscal year, Hartsbrook sold the Ben Smith building, netting proceeds of
about $300,000. In addition, we were able to combine the remaining bequest from the
estate of Sehan Ege ($150,000), and to successfully convert our early childhood endowment
($100,000) to help fund the new building, along with $50,000 in cash reserves, giving us a
budget of $600,000.
Several individuals contributed extra funding and materials worth over $20,000, to provide
maple hardwood flooring, a nicer and more efficient heating system, and a grand covered
entrance to shelter parents with babes in arms. Thank you!
4
8th Grade Promotion
CONgRATULATIONS TO ALL THE EIgHTH gRADE STUDENTS:
Back row, left to right: Romer Sullivan, Joe Black, Oliver Noyes, Marley Bernard, Steven Andrews, Will O’Connor,
Gunner Anderson-Keener and Ryan Crouss. Front row, left to right: Nora Cooper, Sophia DeCesare, Phoebe Michel,
Fiona Herter, Sofia Assab, Sierra Hausthor, Nona Yglesias, (Mrs. Baudendistel), Olivia Rother, Miranda Busansky,
Ruby Dirks, and Kendall Jansen.
5
Congratulations to Our Newest Alumni
– The Class of 2013 –
gRADUATION
What is Hartsbrook? After
fifteen years of attendance,
I’d say it is a community
producing well-rounded,
globally-conscious
visionaries. My graduating
class had a complex and
beautiful dynamic and
ended school better friends than ever before. Our
parents sometimes wondered about our education’s
efficiency and relevance, as they watched us throw
javelins, play with ants, milk cows, and bake bread.
But trust me, we didn’t lack for academic rigor or
direction and most certainly not for homework!
We have emerged empowered to succeed in our
pursuits. Ninety-five percent of Hartsbrook
high-school alumni attend college and ninety-five
percent of them graduate. The national average is
fifty-six percent. Be proud of your decision to choose
this school, of the children you have raised, and of
the new generation you helped create. Be grateful
for the lessons and experiences your child has had.
Whatever choices they will make later, they’ll make
them for the greater good.
- JACOB GArFINkEL, Senior,
excerpt from 2013 graduation speech
WHERE THEy ARE gOINg
VINCENT DEFELICE
Union College. Interested in biology
MADELINE DEWOLF
Greenfield Community College
and work
MEGHAN DRISKO
Marlboro College. Interested in
botany and biology
JACOB GARFINKEL
Bryant University. Majoring in
international business (with a focus
on entrepreneurship), minoring
in Spanish
DUNAN HERMAN-PARKS
Moving to NYC to work in the arts
MEAGHAN HORAK
Massachusetts College of Art &
Design. Interested in film and
illustration
KELSEY MURPHY
Mount Holyoke College. Interested
in marine biology
6
ELENA NIETUPSKI
University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Majoring in theater
JACKIE RITCHIE-DUNHAM
Gap year Kroka Ecuador program,
followed by time in Spain. Then
Smith College, majoring in
international management, minoring
in performing arts
ROBIN ROBLEE-STRAUSS
Gap year: work and travel in Europe
OLIVER SMITH
Earlham College. Interested in english,
biology and history
SAMUEL STEIN
Hampshire College
SEAN TOUSEY-PFARRER
Holyoke Community College and work
MILES WILHEMS-TRICARICO
University of Massachusetts,
Dartmouth. Interested in engineering
and computer science
High School News
SENIOR STUDIES AT HARTSBROOk
HIgH SCHOOL HIgHLIgHTS
11th grade Prison Fieldtrip
“ We may climb into the thin and cold realm of pure
geometry and lifeless science, or sink into that of
sensation. Between these extremes is the equator of life,
of thought, of spirit, of poetry — a narrow belt... A man
is a golden impossibility. The line he must walk is a
hair's breadth. ”
The eleventh grade visited MCI Shirley, a mediumsecurity prison, where they listened to prisoners' stories.
The students write, "What they did was bad, but if they
define themselves as their actions, they will continue in
the same way." "My struggle was connecting these
people who were saying true and meaningful, even
philosophical things, with their crimes." "They talked
about how reality is self-created, how important it is to
make good decisions, surround oneself with good
people, believe in one's self, and have goals. If you
don't, it's easy to get sucked into other people's goals."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Experience”
Waldorf high school seniors study the American
High School Biology Collaborations
Transcendentalists, and in particular the Lyceum
lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson. In the above
quotation, Emerson advocates a balance between
abstract analysis and concrete experience, while
acknowledging the difficulty of locating this “hair’s
breadth” path. As Waldorf teachers, we are
intimately familiar with this challenge as we strive
to help our students navigate the duality of their
emerging selves.
The twelfth-grade biology elective, which uses a
college textbook supplemented by popular and
technical articles, this year visited a federal ecology lab
near Turners Falls and the laboratory of Amherst
College professor Josef Trapani, who studies the
electrophysiology of zebrafish. Students performed an
experiment there, labeling cell types in a live specimen,
which were visualized under a fluorescent microscope.
New High School Program
In high school, thinking and analysis provide form
and counterweight to the experiences and feelings
of the middle school years. The student
supplements observation and description with
comparison, evaluation and synthesis, a process
illustrated by independent senior projects. As
teachers, our task is to support our students’
openness while strengthening their ability to
discern appropriate choices.
The land-stewardship practicum is a new tenth-grade
class taught by Nicki Robb and Miles Herter. In it,
students explore the best ways to manage Hartsbrook's
recent thirty-six acre acquisition. The challenges are legal
and physical. Working with loppers, machetes, saws and
scythes, students have been clearing the brook crossing
on the path to Nibble Hill, as well as adding words and
phrases to their vocabularies such as choking vine and
invasive species.
This is why we require such a range of classes and
activities—playing a sport and building a
computer, acting in a play and making a wooden
stool, studying marine biology and painting a
self-portrait, learning atomic theory and
memorizing a Hamlet soliloquy. Through these
polar experiences students find their own equator,
an Emersonian foundation upon which they can
create a future uniquely their own.
11th grade – Parzifal and the Triform Camphill Community
As part of their study of the medieval German romance
poem Parzifal, the eleventh grade spent a week at
Triform Camphill Community in Hudson, New York – a
residential therapeutic community serving young adults
with developmental disabilities. Student Lucie Latuner
writes, "Parzifal is about compassion. I was amazed to
find how the young people at Triform, people with
special needs, are some of the most compassionate
people I have ever met. I am incredibly grateful that I had
this opportunity and I hope to return someday."
- VIRGINIA MCWILLIAM, High School Faculty Chair
and TONY CAPE, High School Teacher
7
Community in Action
MONkEy BARS INSTALLATION
PRESERVATION LAND BRIDgE
Last year Alexander and Olivia Dreier gave Hartsbrook
thirty-three acres of land. That transfer was facilitated by
the state’s Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program,
which required that Hartsbrook build a bridge on the
property to create proper access to its farthest reaches.
Staff members Pat O’Connor and Ed Mann received
invaluable assistance on this project from parent EVAN
JONES (father to Sam, Rachael, and Hannah) and his
family’s company, Cowls Building Supply. Evan helped to
design the bridge, to source its fifteen twenty-foot
timbers, and to construct the bridge sections. Finally, he
provided a boom truck to assemble the sections. On
February 5, the completed bridge opened up The Knoll,
a field that has not been actively worked for many years.
How wonderful it will be to have students and equipment
bring it alive again. Thank you, Evan, for donating your
time and ingenuity!
A variety of volunteers, including Jacob and Cedric
Ayvazian, the Scibelli family, and Asherah Allen and her
daughter Rosalie Bridge, installed the monkey bars on
the playground. They dug holes, mixed and poured
concrete, wrestled large metal playground pieces into
place, and pruned nearby pin oaks. Jay Cutler lent his
posthole digger. And the biggest credit goes to KEITH
HEALY, his family, and Lucchesi Landscaping of South
Hadley, where Keith works. On his few days off (he's also
a full-time firefighter), Healy borrowed a Bobcat,
excavated the site, helped install the equipment,
delivered a donated load of wood chips by dump truck,
and helped clean up. The monkey bars initiative was
spearheaded by class teacher Jeff Kalman.
COMMUNITy EVENTS
Thank you to each and
every person who worked
to make our events so
successful...
it takes a village!
8
Land Stewardship
What a year it has been! How does one take it all in? In
FOURTH gRADE BUILDS
A SHELTER FOR OUR
LIVESTOCk!
small bites, perhaps:
n Seventh-grader Caleb trained two young steers to
the yoke—teaching them to work as a team, to follow
the commands of Gee and Haw, Back, and Put In, and to
pull loads of manure down to the compost piles.
They are joining in the life of the school, with Caleb as
their driver. They listen only to the commands of a
seventh-grader, ignoring everyone else. Bravo to Caleb
for his beefy determination!
Alan page, grandfather to Arya
page in Meadowlark, donated the
lumber. keith Shields, father of
fourth-grader Quinn, led the
construction. The whole fourth
grade worked flat out! And so
now we have a beautiful, sturdy
barn which is housing our flock of sheep over the summer
and fall. Wander down past the apiary, past the Three Sisters
garden, and see for yourself... thank you so much Alan, keith
and fourth graders!
n Coloradan Aubrey joined the high school to build a life
in agriculture. He trucked his flock of chickens with him.
He arrived daily at the livestock barns ready to work, full
of questions about sustainable farming. He also studied
the plant life and soil structure of our new 33-acre parcel
and developed a management plan.
n The second grade planted a three-sisters garden
(corn, beans and squash). The sixth created a kitchen
garden with vegetables of their choosing. The seventh
started a bee pollinator garden, in anticipation of their
work as eighth-grade beekeepers tending to an
endangered population.
HARTSBROOk LAND STEWARDSHIP
SUPPORTS HOMESTEAD COMMUNITy FARM
Hartsbrook this
year lent
farmland to
Homestead
Community
Farm, "an
integrated
farmstead
community where people with and without disabilities can
live, work and socialize together," which produced organic
food for its participants and local food banks. The enterprise,
and Hartsbrook's contribution, was recently celebrated in the
Hampshire Gazette.
n The summer Farm Camp was entirely re-sited so
as to help children and animals work together safely and
in harmony.
n Finally we hived a swarm of bees that unexpectedly alit
on the crab apple tree in the middle of campus in May,
and donated it to devoted beekeeper Kyra Bleicher,
8th G ‘11 graduate of Virginia McWilliam’s class. Bleicher
had lost her hive over the winter and had been unable to
find a new colony. She received this unexpected gift
beaming ear to ear.
- NICKI ROBB, Director Land Stewardship Program
9
Alumni News
Reforming Public
Education
When Doran reflects on her time at Hartsbrook, she recalls "an
overwhelming sensation of beauty— what we see, hear and
experience through all our senses." She remembers the
Michaelmas Festival, the song about "wind in the trees," the
Holiday Fair, the Advent Garden, May Day with Morris dances,
the Glenbrook trips, her classmates, their families, the
community meals, and all the wonderful stories.
DORAN CATLIN MORgAN,
CLASS OF 1993 (8TH gRADE)
Doran has become a leader in
public-school education
administration, and she credits
much of her success to Hartsbrook.
As one of the first students to
finish eighth grade there, she
experienced first-hand the passion and the vision of the school’s
founders. She began attending Hartsbrook when she joined its
first nursery class, taught by Katharina Radkai, which was held in
a private home in Amherst. Her teachers also included such
seminal figures as Jan Kees Saltet, Catherine Hopkins, and (the
late) Ekkehard Piening. Her mother was a Waldorf educator who
taught part time at Hartsbrook and her younger sister also
attended the school through sixth grade.
From Bay Road to
Wall Street
BARRETT ALLISON, CLASS OF
2001 (8TH gRADE)
Barrett, who attended Hartsbrook
from kindergarten through eighth
grade (alongside his two brothers
and sister) says it helped to form his
persona and to pave his way through
high school, college, and his current
career in investment banking. Katherine Kretz taught him in first
through sixth grade, Jan-Kees Saltet seventh, and Jessica Stark
eighth. Barrett's parents were also very involved in the school.
About her education, Doran says that Waldorf’s genius is "it
seeks to educate the whole child. There isn't an artificial
divide between the spiritual, academic, social, emotional and
physical aspects of development. This produces deep
learning that permeates all the senses, that produces not just
skills but a way of being." Doran says you can always spot a
Waldorf kid. “They connect easily when introduced to new
people, looking them in the eye, and they come off as
supremely well-rounded."
Barrett went on to graduate in 2005 from Amherst Regional
High School and in 2009 from Williams College, where he
played baseball, majored in economics and also studied art, an
interest born at Hartsbrook. After college, he worked as a
corporate legal assistant for Sidley Austin LLP in New York City,
then moved to J.P. Morgan, where he creates asset-backed
securities in the automobile and equipment sectors.
Doran’s Hartsbrook experience stayed with her for years after
she moved to Milwaukee, where she attended an inner-city high
school. Even though she took AP courses and excelled in them,
she says, "I probably learned more in seventh and eighth grade
at Hartsbrook. Its teachers taught me how to write and how to
approach history synoptically and analytically."
What Barrett and his parents loved about Hartsbrook was that it
"provided a personalized approach to education. I felt no
pressure to fit a mold, and I was continually given opportunities
to expand in a variety of areas." Comparing it to his experience
in the public schools, Barrett notes that Hartsbrook also has a
unique knack for fostering the ability to connect with others.
Her Milwaukee school was more diverse, but Hartsbrook had
prepared her to develop connections anywhere. She soon found
friends among various ethnic and socio-economic groups.
How has his Waldorf education furthered his career? Barrett
says, "I developed a love of exploring ideas. Hartsbrook gave
me a quiet confidence and an ability to communicate both
informally and in presentations, skills I use constantly at J.P.
Morgan.” He also notes that "my Waldorf education helped me
to continually set, revisit, and adjust goals for myself."
After high school, Doran's path continued to bear Hartsbrook’s
imprint. At Washington University in St. Louis, she helped
inaugurate an honors education track, graduating summa cum
laude. After teaching in DC and the state of Washington, she
earned an M.A. in education policy at Columbia University’s
Teachers College. She then worked at The National Center for
Children and Families, and at New Leaders for New Schools,
with urban school district principals. She then served as assistant
principal in Oakland’s public schools, focusing on academics and
implementing new teaching methods, before becoming a a
consultant to that district so as to devote more time to raising a
family of her own.
Traditions and special projects undertaken at Hartsbrook hold a
special place in Barrett's memory. He remembers fondly that it
was his class that constructed the Cobb Oven that is still in use
by the kindergarten building today. He hopes to one day revisit
Field Day, the first-and eighth-grade flower ceremonies, May
Day and of course graduation. He has remained in touch with
several Hartsbrook classmates and notes that it is Hartsbrook’s
traditions and projects that helped to seal their bond.
Alumni Profiles by PILAR SCHMIDT, Development Committee
10
Francophile for Life
ALUMNI HIgHLIgHTS
IAN CURTIS, CLASS OF
2008 (12TH gRADE)
MICHAEL SUSTICK, 8th grade ‘98,
who teaches kindergarten at
Discovery School in Greenfield,
won a Harold S. Grinspoon
Foundation Pioneer Valley
Excellence in Teaching Award. He is
known for lessons that address
children individually and for varying
his techniques to ensure that every
child succeeds.
Ian is on his way to an
academic career in French,
an interest born during his
many years at Hartsbrook—
he started at its nursery
school and in 2008
graduated from its high
school, before going on to
Kenyon College. Ian says,
"I was very well prepared
for college. Hartsbrook encouraged me to look at how
diverse disciplines fit together. We would study ethics in a
Russian-literature block and in biology at the same time,
for example."
Violist KIARA ANA PERICO, ’07, played two Bach concerts
for Hartsbrook students. She graduated from Boston
University in 2011 and has played with Laura Warshauer
and the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Last fall she toured with
Bleu and Air Traffic Controller.
About his time at Hartsbrook, Ian says, "At the same time that
the school emphasized community and academic rigor, it gave
me the opportunity to design my own program—the intellectual
and emotional freedom to pursue personal interests. In
particular, the twelfth-grade ‘senior project’ lets students
explore deeply something they care about passionately."
JOSHUA KRUGMAN, 8th grade '05, now a student at
Wesleyan University, won the Peter Morgenstern-Clarren
'03 Social Justice Scholarship Award and the Robert
Schumann Distinguished Student Award for his work at
Long Lane Farm, a student-run organic farm. Josh and his
fellow farmers were able to make fresh local organic
produce available not only to the university dining hall but
to many low-income Middletown residents.
Ian and fellow classmates petitioned successfully for their
own band practice group. Also, "During my junior year, I was
able to live in Paris for six months with a French family, and to
experience a French Waldorf School, shadowing a French
student as he progressed through the year. Thanks to the
language proficiency that I acquired, I was able to take
French at Smith College upon my return, a defining moment
for me academically."
Farm to Table on Amherst
Campus: Alumnus TOBIN
PORTER-BROWN made headlines
at Amherst College with plans to
develop Book and Plow Farm, a
farm-to-campus-table initiative.
Tobin and Peter McLean have
signed a deal with Amherst to
lease a four-acre parcel of campus
property to grow and sell
in-season produce directly to the
college’s Valentine Dining Hall. The duo’s long-range
goals are to collaborate with Amherst College and other
institutions in operating a “full-diet,” diversified
year-round agricultural enterprise that efficiently produces
vegetables, tree crops and grain for the campus and Five
College community.
He notes that Hartsbrook students enjoy academic opportunities
at all the local five colleges, as well as study abroad options in
several countries. As a senior, Ian also traveled with his class to
South Dakota to help build a new Waldorf school on an Indian
reservation, a chance to learn firsthand about the struggles
American Indians face.
Ian also fondly remembers his communal experiences at
Hartsbrook. "Plays are very important in a small school, because
they allow you to share a deeply emotional moment, to connect
with students of all ages, teaching the younger students and
finding role models in the older ones. And in high school, the
all-school morning meeting’s singing and music provided a
framework for the day. It ritualized and framed the day in a
profoundly spiritual way that integrated community, arts
and academics."
WE MISS yOU, HARTSBROOk ALUMNI! SEND US yOUR UPDATES
OR INqUIRIES: [email protected] OR VISIT OUR
HARTSBROOk FACEBOOk PAgE TO STAy IN TOUCH.
His Hartsbrook experience affects his life still, he says, "There is
a great artistic influence that continues beyond graduation. I
still do yoga, sign language, and play the guitar; those activities
are an important part of who I am."
COMINg SOON... UDPATED ALUMNI PAgE ON OUR WEBSITE AT:
WWW.HARTSBROOk.ORg
11
Tribute to Elizabeth Sustick
In September
2013, Elizabeth
question brought strength, balance, and insight to each
phase of the school’s growth. She also worked tirelessly to
recruit and welcome new Board members.
Sustick will step
down from the
Board of Directors
of The Hartsbrook
School. Elizabeth
has belonged to
it with only an
occasional hiatus
since Hartsbrook’s
earliest days. Her
work over the last thirty years has been a major force in
building up what Hartsbrook is today.
Another way that Elizabeth, together with her husband
Paul and alumni son Nathan, nourished Hartsbrook was by
providing delicious, nutritious food for dozens of
occasions. Who will soon forget her warm pear crunch?
She also consulted on early childhood snacks and gave
cooking workshops.
Though Elizabeth is retiring from the Board, she will
continue to be active in the school as a grandparent, and,
no doubt will work to support Hartsbrook in particular and
Waldorf education in general for years to come.
What inspired Elizabeth to get involved with Waldorf
education were talks given by Frances Edmunds and Jane
Eliot in the Pioneer Valley in the early 80’s. Frances Edmunds
was a leading figure in Waldorf education from England.
Jane Eliot was a local anthroposophist and a founding
member (along with the Zajoncs and Fortiers) of the Waldorf
education initiative in the Valley. It was Jane who invited
Elizabeth to join the fledgling Pioneer Valley Waldorf School
(later named The Hartsbrook School) board.
Elizabeth, we are exceedingly grateful for your gracious
hard work and dedication. You are one of the main reasons
that Waldorf education has flourished in the Pioneer Valley.
The entire community reaches out in heartfelt thanks.
- JAN BAUDENDISTEL, Faculty
From all of us at Hartsbrook
When Ekkehard Piening came to Hartsbrook to take the first
grade in 1985, he asked Elizabeth to assist in handwork.
Before long she was the lead handwork teacher, a position
she held for many years. She also created costumes for
plays, many of which we still use today.
FROM ELIzABETH SUSTICk
Dear Hartsbrook Community,
Rilke once wrote of “a certain day” when
“what I heard was my whole self saying and
singing what it knew: I can.” It’s been over
three decades since “a certain day” when I
joined Hartsbrook, and now I gratefully put
aside the leadership tasks of the board, and
trustingly leave the future in the good hands
of those goodwilled people who will do I as I
have done—to shape and be shaped by the
events of sustaining a school which keeps faith
with living process and the totality of the
vision of Rudolf Steiner’s work.
Ekkehard also asked Elizabeth to find art prints to hang in
the school and sell at the Holiday Fair. This search—and a
multitude of other requests from teachers and parents—
soon led to Elizabeth’s opening the school store. The store
provided everything from books on Waldorf education to
woolen underwear and hand-crafted toys until it closed just a
few years ago. Elizabeth ran or advised the store for its
entire existence.
Hartsbrook’s Parent Council was first established in the 80’s
and Elizabeth also chaired this important body for a number
of years.
In the early 90’s, Elizabeth recognized growing interest in
Waldorf education of very young children. She and Valerie
Poplawski responded by founding Hartsbrook’s Cricket on
The Hearth program, one of the first Waldorf parent/toddler
programs in the country. Elizabeth taught in the program for
its first nine years. This work in parent education and
nurturing the young child expanded to include many
weekend workshops under the umbrella of “Our Healthy
Children.” The workshops were conducted with the Early
Childhood faculty and Dr. Alicia Landman-Reiner.
Heartfelt thanks to all my teachers and guides
along the way, including all the children of
Hartsbrook I have known these many years.
- ELIZABETH SUSTICK
Parent to alumni Nathaniel,
Emily and Michael
Grandparent of Early Childhood children
Henry, Noah and Reed
On the Board, Elizabeth always kept the children at the
center of all considerations, and helped find solutions rooted
in anthroposophy. Her calm, considered approach to every
12
Hartsbrook News
NEW EMPLOyEES
Before the first group of kindergarten children
played at the School’s original South Amherst location,
Elizabeth Sustick was present. When she arrived, we
were a mere handful of parents and friends carrying
the dream of founding a Waldorf School in the pioneer
Valley. She was accustomed to dreaming, since she
and her husband, paul, had recently opened the first
health-food restaurant in the Valley in Thornes Market.
She joined the Board of Directors in 1983. Her son
Nathan was in the first kindergarten and later in the
pioneering grades class that began under Ekkehard
piening. Her two other children, Emily and Michael,
followed close behind. Elizabeth’s love of her children
opened her calm eyes to the potential of Waldorf
education not only for her children but for those of
hundreds of other families. Like few others, Elizabeth
demonstrated the faithfulness required to realize
dreams, and the Hartsbrook School has benefited for
over thirty years.
We Are Pleased to Announce:
LESLIE EVANS joined us as
enrollment director this past year.
The previous summer she worked as
enrollment assistant. She has a B.A.
in French and comparative
European literature from Boston
University and has worked
extensively in admissions, student
recruitment, training, program
development and coordination. She was program
director for two study abroad organizations, sending
students and faculty to France, Germany, the U.K., New
Zealand, Australia, and Scandinavia. Leslie and husband
Arthur have two children, Peter and Laila, at the
Hartsbrook School.
FRANCES CAMERON is
our new operations manager.
Frances has a B.S. and M.S. in
environmental engineering, from
MIT and UMass Amherst. She has
planned, designed, and overseen
numerous projects including water
treatment facilities, pump stations,
water mains, and storage tanks. She
particularly looks forward to applying her knowledge of
sustainable design, energy efficiency, and resource
conservation to the Hartsbrook campus. Frances and her
husband David have two sons, Glenn and Miles, who will
join the kindergarten and nursery.
The will that founded The Hartsbrook School is carried
still by many, but no one has carried it as truly and
beautifully as Elizabeth. We wish her well in her future
endeavors and know that they will be the better for
her presence.
- HEIDE AND ArTHUr ZAJONC, Founding parents
JESSICA LACROIX started working
as our school nurse this past spring.
She has a B.A. in English and
psychology from Mount Holyoke
College, and a B.S.N. from UMass
Amherst. Jessica worked as a nurse
for the last 5 years (part-time) at the
Cutchins Program for Children and
Families, a residential treatment
center for children and adolescents. Jessica and her
husband Steve have two daughters, Anna (age 6) and
Eliza (age 3).
13
Sowing the Seeds of Stewardship
Thank you to our donors!
Each year we all pull together and donate money to the school. Not only does it raise revenue, but even more
importantly, giving to the Annual Fund is a great way for all of us to make a gift to each other, to know that we
thrive together as a community.
With heartfelt appreciation, KAREN BATES, Director of Development and her awesome Development Team:
Joe Moore, Jim Ritchie-Dunham, Heide Zajonc, Louise Spear, Tracy McQuade, and Pilar Schmidt.
AnnuAl Fund:
GoAl: $85,000
NIBBLE HILL CIRCLE
UP TO $99
Anonymous -15
Asherah Allen & Adrian Richmond
Steven & Christine Andrews
Abid Assab & Nancy Solow
Steve & Kate Atkinson
Andrea & Jacob Ayvazian
Amanda Barnhart & Susan Murphy
omas Benander
Kristen & Dean Bernard
Lindsay Berry Abbate
Jake & Ashley Blais
Moira Brady & Lary Grossman
Cindy & Eric Bright
Amy Burkey & John Rollinson
Lew Burton & Marie Lauderdale
Suzy Canter Kirsch
Phoebe Cape
Rick Case
Marlaina Cataldi
Doran Catlin Morgan
Lili Chilson
Terry Cline & Tricia Sawyer
Kate & Scott Cooper
Tom Coughlin & Kate Lytton
e Cownap Family
Sue Cox
Katie & Dan Crouss
Amber Dahlin
Nick D'Amico & Angela LeClerc
Lawrence Delevingne
Walker Dieckmann
Jason & Elizabeth Dirks
Anni Elwell Hanna & Dale Hanna
Donna Estabrooks
Leslie & Arthur Evans
e Evans Family
Gary Felder & Rosemary
McNaughton
Kenny & Joyce Felder
Amy Freed - In Memory of Ellin
Randel
Amber French & Tara Luce
James Fryer & Rosita
Fernandez-Rojo
|
$81,647
rAised: $81,647
Sean Gaffney
Kevin Gallagher & Christy
Anderson
Heidi Garfinkel
Wayne Garfinkel
Carolyn Goepfert
Ben & Luna Greenwood
Renee Guest
Mr. & Mrs. Martin L. Hall
Kristin Hall
John Hallock
Robin Harris
John & Janine Harrison
Eugenie Harvey
Christian Hawkins & Rebekah
Brooks
Keith & Colleen Healy
omas Heineman & Chieko
Yamazaki
Michelle Hendrick & Chris Baker
Miles & Penny Herter
Susan & Michael Howard
Sandra Hoover - In Honor of
Dunan Herman-Parks ‘13
Gertrude Reif Hughes - In Honor
of Heide Zajonc
Erich Husemoller & Alison Sinkler
Mathew Jacobson & Susan Heitker
Tom Joyce
Joyce Kalman
Bob Kanig & Debora Sperling - In
Honor of Mrs. Hopkins
Stephen Katz & Beth Fairservis
Ned Kavanagh
Steve & Leslie Kellogg
Dan & Rachel Kennedy
Carl Knerr & Hala Abdul-Rasool
Diane LaBarge
Jessica LaClaire
Jessica & Steve LaCroix
Nancy E. Lamb
Anne & Shawn Lamoureux
Greg Laughran & Lori Vigliano
Laughran
Joann Lawrence & Bill Stein
Tanya Lax & Will Holmes
14
99%
|
|
pArticipAtion!
totAl contributors: 316
Brian & Gwen Leaf
Marianne Mahoney, Alie & Sam In Memory of Nana & Bill
Amanda & Michael Marley
Alexis Major Jameson & Neal
Jameson
Jill McCormick & Bill Dungey
Tracy McQuade
Kim & Tom Moliterno
Elizabeth Moreland
Charles & Kristin Neville
Katherine Nickel
Benjamin Noyes
Ben & Susan O'Connor
Mark Osgood
Megan Owens & Hunter Toran
Matt & Sara Rose Page
Oleksiy & Taryn Paladiy
Jayme Parro & Marilyn Iannaccone
Angela Parro
Ben Perrault & Liz Adler
Robin Pfoutz
Joseph & Joan Pierro
Christine Pineo
Kim Pisinski
omas & Valerie Poplawski
Caitlin Pow
Liza Pulsifer
David & Karen Ranen
Michelle Regish
Joyce Reilly - In Honor of e
Dreier Family
Stuart Remensnyder & Nicole
Laurencelle
Nicki Robb - In Honor of e Land
Stewardship Program
Cynthia Roberts & Debbie Penzias
Mark Roblee & Jacqueline Strauss
Camilo Rojas & Catalina Arrubla
Nicole Romer
Cat Sargent & Laura Mele
Kathleen Schindler
David Schultz
Brian Schumacher & A'Dora
Phillips
Anthony & Michelle Scibelli
Amy & David Serotkin
Boone Shear
Andrea Aleman Sherbakov
Maggie Shields
Gabriel Smith & Liset
Dvarte de Smith
Betty Staley
Michael Sustick
Nate & Paule Sustick
Matt errien & Chava Moulton
Charles ompson & Violet Clark
Adam urrell & Nicole Roma
Magdalena Toran
Debra Tricarico
Aleksandar & Vesna Vasovic
FUNDRAISINg IN 2012/13
Hartsbrook community’s charitable
contributions generated $124,099 in
fundraising dollars for the school
(15% more than last year).
Operating Gifts & Event Proceeds
Scrip Program
$6,750
Florence Savings Bank
$2,500
Holiday Fair
$11,502
Annual Fund
$81,647
TOTAL
$102,399
Directed & Capital Gifts
Early Childhood Building
$15,350
Bergen Diaz Scholarship Fund $2,770
High School Equipment
$1,500
Class Trips
$1,050
Playground (Monkeybars)
$905
Land Stewardship Program
$125
TOTAL
$21,700
TOTAL FUNDRAISING
$124,099
Pam Victor & Jeff Hausthor
Gail & Didier Voisin
Jennifer Weaver
Chip Weems & Lisa Slocum
Howard Wein & Jennifer Storey
Tom Wilkinson
Steve Winn & Lesley Farlow
Michael Wojtec & Samantha
Burnell
Samantha Wood
Stephen & Victoria Worth
Irina Yakub
Kimberlee Zacek
Mark & Laurie Zacek
Jonah Zuckerman & Rebecca
Busansky
LITTLE TINkER HILL
CIRCLE $100-$249
Anonymous -1
India Adams & Luke Meyer
e Andresens
Robert Black
Barbara Bridge ('Oma')
Mark Bucciarelli & Janet Kaplan
Bucciarelli
Liza Cabot-Case
Marie-Dominique Corbiere & John
Fenske
Peter & Barbara Curtis
Heather Damon
Lisa Dufour
Martha DeWolf
James Drisko & Marilyn Carey
Drisko
Priscilla Drucker
Larry & Tamson Ely - In Honor of
Ekkehard Piening
John & Barbara Fibiger
Meg Fisher & Arn Krugman
Ruth Fisher
William & Nancy Foster
Grandparents of Alex & Elijah
Howe
Mark Hensley & Karen omas
Hilltown Tents
Edward Hoffer
Lori Lynn Hoffer & Bobby Dolan
Charles & Catherine Hopkins
Jeff & Amy Kalman
Dan Kirsch
Janice & Fred Kreitner
LabCorp - Matching Gift
Jon Lackman & Alex Lynch
Sophie Latham & Tamer
Pepemehmetoglu
Cherrie & Roger Latuner
Joseph & Martha Lellman
Eliot Levine & Madge Evers
Mao Mao & Jed Liebert
Bruce MacPherson
James V. Major - In Honor of Alexis
Major Jameson
Cat McCune
Jim & Judy McQuade
David & Virginia McWilliam
June & Donald Moskovitz
Nan Niederlander - In Honor of
Nicki Robb
Andrew Olendzki & Kathryn Fanelli
Elyce & Herman Perico
Bridget Pooser
Alan Reynolds
Alan Rice & Holly Wescott
Marie J. Rother
Caroline & Tony Sabetti - In Honor
of Meg Fisher
Ann Salky
Jan Kees & Polly Saltet
Dency Sargent & Bob Sawyer
Chris & Jim Shaw
Ed & Kathy Smith, Textile
Reproductions
John & Eileen Sorrentino
Bert & Rebecca Storey - In Honor
of Meg Fisher & the nursery
teachers
Paul & Elizabeth Sustick - In
Memory of Jane Eliot
Elizabeth & Barrie Tan - In Honor
of Hartsbrook teachers
Joyce Tousey & Steve Pfarrer
Amanda & Timothy Viles
Deborah Watrous
Alex & Sarah Workman
August Zajonc
MT. HITCHCOCk CIRCLE
$1,000 - $2,499
LONg MOUNTAIN CIRCLE
$250 - $499
Anonymous -2
Karen Bates - In Honor of Tupper
Brown
Richard & Joyce Eichacker
Lane & Jennifer Hall-Witt
Lee Herter
Frank & Karen Iglehart
Jennifer & Travis Johnson
Jose & Angela Martagon-Villamil
Keith McCormick & Eva Lohrer
Ty McCormick
Enrique McDonald & Gretchen
Scholl
Tim McNerney
Kevin & Bonnie Murphy
Stephen & Lisa Pulsifer
Rockwell AutomationMatching Gift
Susan Waltner
Henry & Annie Woolsey
MT. HOLyOkE CIRCLE
$500 - $999
Anonymous -1
Tupper & Sandy Brown
Sandy and George Garfunkel
Scott Green & Naho
Tanamura-Green
Clayton Jarvis
Dr. Kent Hesse & Caryn Hesse
Anniken Mitchell - In Memory of
David S. Mitchell
James Pewtherer & Jan Baudendistel
Jim & Rachel Piermarini
Dan & Candice Pratt - Albert Pratt
Charitable Trust
Bryant Rother & Suellen
Walsh-Rother
Genelle & Michael Rudd
Jim Serhant & Jane Degenhardt
- In Memory of Katherine
Degenhardt
Louise Spear & JB Lynch
Clare Todd - In Honor of Sarah &
Rose Todd
Stephen & Beth Volkmann
Anonymous -2
Howell & Madeline Adams
Deborah Carmichael
Paul & Karen Horak
Curt & Kelly Hudson
Wal & Hedy Jarvis
Joe & Lisa Moore
Dennis Szuhay & Reed Wulsin
Sarah Todd
Gordon orne & Annie Woodhull
Arthur & Heide Zajonc
BARE MOUNTAIN CIRCLE
$2,500 - $4,999
Anonymous -1
Andrew & Heidi Moskovitz
MT. NORWOTTUCk CIRCLE
$5,000+
ANONyMOUS
gIVINg LEVEL
Advent Calendar Fundraiser
Alan & Lisa Ballou - In Honor of
Renee Ballou
Brenden Berge & Andrea Allees In Memory of Catherine Allees
& Peter Berge
Vidor & Nissan Bernstien
Marc Bleicher & Swansea Benham
Bleicher
Kathleen Bowen
Megan Butow & Tim Jacobs
Anthony Cape & Mary
Tibbetts-Cape
Ned DeLaCour & Nancy
Lustgarten
Steve & Anne Haendiges
Leta Herman
Steve & Gail Herman - In Honor
of Miles Herter
Noy Holland & Sam Michel
Gary Jambazian & Melany
Benoit-Jambazian
Alex & Margo Jansen
Pauline Keener & Carol Anderson
Edward & Mary Kuntz
Shirley Latessa
Linda Leavis - In Honor of Dana &
Stephanie Kellogg
Nalini & Raymond Mahoney
Debra & John Marks
Dylan & Kirsten McGee
Clive Mealey & Ruth Rootberg
Lauren Mills
Megan Moore & Russell Mariani
Steven Nietupski & Maryellen
DiLuzio
Joe O'Rourke
Rosie Pearson - In Honor of
Catherine Hopkins &
Elyce Perico
Lara Radysh
Rebecca Rice - In Honor of
Hartsbrook High School
teachers!
Pilar & Otto M. Schmidt
Noah Smith & Rachel Beaupre
15
Cecylia & Andrew Soborski
Roger Sorkin & Eva
Camacho-Sanchez
Ellen & Ira Sorkin
Barry Spence & Kate Gerrity
Jessica Stark
Michael Sugrue & Keyla
Kleyser-Sugrue - In Honor of
Aidan & Liam
Fritz & Patricia Vohr - In Honor of
Magdalena Toran & Megan
Owens and for their dedication to
the children.
Dot Walsh
Pablo Yglesias & Margot Glass - In
Honor of Jan Baudendistel
Jean Zimmer
ALUMNI CONTRIBUTORS
Every gift from an alumna or
alumnus means so much to
Hartsbrook - ank you, each of you!
Anonymous -1
Andrea Aleman Sherbakov, ‘08
Phoebe Cape, 8thG ‘02
Doran Catlin Morgan, 8thG ‘93
Amber Dahlin, ‘04
Lawrence Delevingne, 8thG ‘97
Walker Dieckmann, '05
Anni Elwell Hanna, 8thG ‘93
& Dale Hanna
Ty McCormick, 8thG ‘02
Gabriel Smith, ‘06 & Liset Dvarte
de Smith
Noah Smith, 8thG ‘97 & Rachel
Beaupre
Micheal Sustick, 8thG ‘98
Nate Sustick, 8thG ‘93 &
Paule Sustick
Kimberlee Zacek, ‘06
August Zajonc, 8thG ‘93
ALUMNI PARENT
CONTRIBUTORS
We are so grateful to all our Alumni
parents for the unwavering
support - ank you!
Anonymous -1
Tupper & Sandy Brown
Anthony Cape & Mary
Tibbetts-Cape
Benjamin Cownap & Martha
Napolitan
Peter & Barbara Curtis
Priscilla Drucker
Lisa Dufour
Larry & Tamson Ely
Jonathan & Margaret Evans
Meg Fisher & Arn Krugman
Amy Freed
James Fryer & Rosita
Fernandez-Rojo
John Hallock
Eugenie Harvey
Kent & Caryn Hesse
Charles & Catherine Hopkins
Susan & Michael Howard
Frank & Karen Iglehart
Eliot Levine & Madge Evers
Catherine Luborsky
Nalini & Raymond Mahoney
Keith McCormick & Eva Lohrer
Clive Mealey & Ruth Rootberg
Megan Moore & Russell Mariani
Joe O'Rourke
Rosie Pearson
Herman & Elyce Perico
omas & Valerie Poplawski
Dan & Candice Pratt - Albert Pratt
Charitable Trust
David & Karen Ranen
Alan Reynolds
Nicki Robb
Jan Kees & Polly Saltet
Ed & Kathy Smith,
Textile Reproductions
Cecylia & Andrew Soborski
Louise Spear & JB Lynch
Paul & Elizabeth Sustick
Gordon orne & Annie Woodhull
Stephen & Beth Volkmann
Susan Waltner
Chip Weems & Lisa Slocum
Henry & Annie Woolsey
Arthur & Heide Zajonc
gRANDPARENT & FRIEND
CONTRIBUTORS
Your contributions make an incredible
impact on our students and our faculty.
ank you!
Anonymous -2
Howell & Madeline Adams
Vidor & Nissan Bernstien
Barbara Bridge ("Oma")
Deborah Carmichael
Priscilla Drucker
John & Barbara Fibiger
Ruth Meads Fisher
Sandy & George Garfunkel
Carolyn Goepfert
Mr. & Mrs. Martin L. Hall
Steve & Gail Herman
Lee Herter
Hilltown Tents
Edward Hoffer
Sandra Hoover
Gertrude Reif Hughes
Wal & Hedy Jarvis
Joyce Kalman
Ned Kavanagh
Janice & Fred Kreitner
Edward & Mary Kuntz
Nancy E. Lamb
Shirley Latessa
Linda Leavis
James V. Major
Jim & Judy McQuade
Anniken Mitchell
June & Donald Moskovitz
Nan Niederlander
Joseph & Joan Pierro
Joyce Reilly
Marie J. Rother
Ann Salky
Dency Sargent & Bob Sawyer
Pilar & Otto M. Schmidt
David Schultz
Maggie Shields
Ellen & Ira Sorkin
John & Eileen Sorrentino
Betty Staley
Bert & Rebecca Storey
Paul & Elizabeth Sustick
Clare Todd
Fritz & Patricia Vohr
Dot Walsh
Deborah Watrous
John & Kathleen Wild
Tom Wilkinson
Alex Workman
Irina Yakub
CHARITABLE REMAINDER
TRUSTS
FACULTy & STAFF
CONTRIBUTORS
ank you all for a record 95%
employee annual fund participation
this year. You inspire us all.
Anonymous -5
Karen Bates
Jan Baudendistel & James Pewtherer
Robert Black
Kathleen Bowen
Amy Burkey
Marie Lauderdale
Tony Cape
Marie-Dominique Corbiere
Amber Dahlin
Heather Damon
Leslie Evans
Margaret Evans
Meg Fisher
Amy Freed
Steve & Anne Haendiges
Janine Harrison
omas Heineman & Chieko
Yamazaki
Miles Herter
Caryn Hesse
Catherine Hopkins
Jeff Kalman
Rachel Kennedy
Arn Krugman
Diane LaBarge
Jessica LaCroix
Cherrie Latuner
Tanya Lax
Gretchen Scholl
Alexis Major Jameson
Kirsten McGee
Rosemary McNaughton
Tracy McQuade
Virginia McWilliam
Lauren Mills
Elizabeth Moreland
Katherine Nickel
Megan Owens
Taryn Paladiy
Elyce Perico
Robin Pfoutz
Christine Pineo
Valerie Poplawski
Caitlin Pow
Candice Pratt
Lara Radysh
Michelle Regish
Alan Reynolds
Nicki Robb
Liz Rose
Jan Kees & Polly Saltet
Gretchen Scholl
Chris Shaw
Louise Spear
Jessica Stark
Chava Moulton
Magdalena Toran
Vesna Vasovic
Gail Voisin
Chip Weems
16
Sandra J. Hoover (grandmother of
Dunan Herman-Parks '13), in
memory of her father, Coye Wilson
Hoover (1898-1991), and designated
for the land stewardship program
OTHER DESIgNATED gIFTS
EARLY CHILDHOOD
BuILDING $15,350
Anonymous -2
Peter & Barbara Curtis
Priscilla Drucker
Miles & Lee Herter
Alan Page, Green Diamond Systems
Celia Riahi, e Cottage Garden
e Philip & Myn Rootberg
Foundation
PLAYGROuND EQuIPMENT
$905
Karen Bates
Marie Dominique Corbiere
Jeff & Amy Kalman
Miles & Penny Herter
Rosemary McNaughton & Gary
Felder
James Pewtherer & Jan Baudendistel
Jan Kees & Polly Saltet
Louise Spear
Chip Weems & Lisa Slocum
gIFTS IN kIND
India Adams
Atkins Farms Country Market
Nissan Bernstien
Bramble Hill Farm
Liza Cabot-Case
Terry Cline
Flayvors at Cook’s Farm
Penny & Miles Herter
Esselon Café
Beth Fairservis
Tara Hoffman
Evan Jones, Cowls Building Supply
Stephen Katz
Leslie Lauf
Loose Goose Café
Bruce MacPherson
Maple Farm Foods
Tim McNerney
Mountain View Farm CSA
Next Barn Over Farm
Pat & Julie O’Connor
Olde Hadley Flea Market
(Raymond Szala)
Alan Page, Green Diamond Systems
Paul & Elizabeth’s Natural Foods
Restaurant
Real Pickles
Nicole Roma
Keith Shields
Mike Sugrue
Dennis Szuhay
Trader Joes
Didier Voisin
Waterlily Design
Wheatberry Bakery
ENDOWMENT FUNDS
An endowment is a fund whose
principal is required to stay intact
and is invested to create an
ongoing source of income to
offset expenses. We are so
grateful that this year’s senior
class families have reinvigorated
the Bergen Diaz Scholarship
Endowment Fund.
Bergen Diaz SCHOLARSHIP
ENDOWMENT
This fund was established in 1996
in memory of Bergen Diaz, 8th
grade ’94, to welcome additional
families needing financial
assistance and to ensure that
existing families can return.
Scholarships are available in all
grades and are awarded on the
basis of need and/or merit.
Hartsbrook heartily thanks the
senior class families for giving a
gift to the Bergen Diaz
Scholarship Endowment in honor
of the graduating class of 2013,
and also for establishing this
annual tradition. They invite you
to join them in supporting this
endowment.
Bergen Diaz
ENDOWMENT FUND $2,770
12th grade class gift
Lori Lynn Hoffer & Bobby Dolan
Oleksiy and Taryn Paladiy
Arthur & Heide Zajonc
THE HARTSBROOK SCHOOL
ANNUAL REPORT IS PRODUCED BY
THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE.
PLEASE DIRECT ANY COMMENTS
OR SUGGESTIONS TO KAREN
BATES, DIRECTOR OF
DEVELOPMENT, AT
[email protected] OR
413-586-1908, X129.
PLEASE KNOW THAT EVERY EFFORT
HAS BEEN MADE TO BE ACCURATE;
IF YOU FIND AN ERROR, PLEASE
ACCEPT OUR SINCERE APOLOGY,
AND PLEASE LET US KNOW.
Hartsbrook Board of Directors
THE BOARD WELCOMES THE FOLLOWINg NEW MEMBERS:
bryAnt rother
JAcqui deFelice
Before moving to western
Massachusetts in 2005, I spent most
of my life in New Jersey. I
graduated from Fordham in 1989
with a BS in finance. I worked in
financial services for eighteen years.
I have been a member of the
Hartsbrook community since my son
Jordan (class of 2011) began in
Erika Hollister's first grade class in
1999. The following year, my
younger son Vincent joined Celia
Riahi's kindergarten and I began
working in the Ben Smith office as administrative
assistant. Three years later, I took over the position of
enrollment director from Jessica Stark – last year's 8th
grade teacher. I held this job for nine years until
November 2011.
My wife Suellen Walsh-Rother and I are Hartsbrook
parents. Our daughter Olivia will enter 8th grade this fall.
Like many parents, I have volunteered for various
Hartsbrook activities, including field trip chaperone,
3rd grade practical arts assistant, on the long-range
planning committee, and most recently high school
basketball coach.
Since leaving Hartsbrook, I have been working with
Arthur Zajonc (co-founder of The Hartsbrook School) as
director of operations and advancement for the Mind &
Life Institute (www.mindandlife.org) at 4 Bay Road
in Hadley.
I am honored to serve on the Board. I believe in “giving
back” to the school community that has shaped and
affected the lives of our young children in so many
incredible ways.
I was delighted and honored to be asked to join the
Hartsbrook Board of Directors. This school, this
community and the Waldorf educational philosophy are
central to my life. I will offer whatever I can from my
experience as enrollment director and parent to support
the The Hartsbrook School.
dAvid rAnen
I have lived in the Pioneer Valley
thirty seven of the past thirty eight
years. I have taught music both
choral and classroom in the Amherst
Regional Public Schools for thirty
two years where I also have served
as guidance counselor. I have a BA
in music education and a M.Ed. in counseling. I have
conducted both children’s and adult choirs and teach
private voice classes.
tony cApe
We would also like to welcome
Tony Cape as our Faculty
Conference member on the Board.
Tony holds a Master’s degree from
Cambridge University. His daughter
was a member of the first high
school class, and he has taught
English and history at the high school full-time for six
years. Prior to teaching at Hartsbrook, he taught writing
at Bard College and Yale University. He has also
published four works of espionage fiction.
In 2008 my daughter entered the the Hartsbrook High
School as a 9th grader. Over her four years I chaperoned
overnights, served on parent committees, helped at
fundraisers, and coached three Hartsbrook musicals.
I feel that I can bring a voice of a teacher of interest to
the Board. I have devoted my professional life to helping
adolescents and young adults, while working with faculty
on setting safe boundaries for kids.
- SWANSEA BENHAM BLEICHER,
for the Hartsbrook Board of Directors
17
A Waldorf
School in the
Pioneer Valley
193 Bay Road Hadley, MA 01035
www.hartsbrook.org
Clarity of Thought ~ Warmth of Heart ~ Strength of Purpose
MISSION STATEMENT
The Hartsbrook School, a Waldorf School
in the Pioneer Valley, is dedicated to
nurturing the unique spirit of each child.
Our program from early childhood
through high school integrates academic,
artistic, and practical work to awaken
clarity of thought, warmth of heart, and
THE HARTSBROOK SCHOOL WAS FOUNDED IN 1981 BY A
GROUP OF EDUCATORS AND SUPPORTERS OF WALDORF
EDUCATION IN THE PIONEER VALLEY.
THE HARTSBROOK SCHOOL IS ONE OF 180 WALDORF
SCHOOLS IN NORTH AMERICA AND OVER 1,000 WORLDWIDE.
WALDORF SCHOOLS SEEK TO DEVELOP STUDENTS’ HUMANITY
BY OFFERING AN EDUCATION THAT PROMOTES ACADEMIC
EXCELLENCE, CULTIVATES ARTISTIC EXPRESSION, DEVELOPS
PRACTICAL SKILLS, AND STRENGTHENS MORAL CHARACTER.
THE SCHOOL CURRENTLY ENROLLS 247 STUDENTS, FROM
EARLY CHILDHOOD THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL.
strength of purpose. Through joy in
learning, kinship with nature, and working
in community, we prepare students to
meet the challenges of the future and to
find purpose and direction in their lives.
THE HARTSBROOK SCHOOL IS FULLY
ACCREDITED BY THE NEW ENGLAND
ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLS AND
COLLEGES AND THE ASSOCIATION OF
WALDORF SCHOOLS OF NORTH AMERICA.