Capital Campaign
San Francisco Waldorf School is at an extraordinary turning point in its growth and development.
The new high school campus is the most recent step forward for an independent school with an outstanding record of providing unique and innovative educational opportunities to a cross-section of students from primary school through high school.
Imagine a new LEED certified “green” high school, with a new theatre, gymnasium, and arts wing. Envision the only truly “green” high school in San Francisco in a building renovated by architects who have already won national awards for environmental excellence. The “green” Waldorf high school is the crown jewel of Stage One in a major fund drive to bring the founding vision of the Waldorf School to reality.
Stage Two will include renovations and upgrades to the grade school facilities and a home for the early childhood school program. In addition, there will be an ongoing effort to build an endowment fund to help secure the long term future of the school. The Capital Campaign will be accomplished over a 4 to 7 year period. Three years from now, in the center of this major fund drive, everyone who has contributed to the success of the School—parents, faculty and staff, students and graduates, and friends in the community—will celebrate San Francisco Waldorf School’s 30th Anniversary.
Stage One of the fund drive will raise approximately $10 million for remodeling expenses (including the LEED certification), the new theatre/gymnasium, and the arts wing. Stage Two will raise another $8 million for grade school renovation and the Early Childhood facility, while an ongoing endowment program will be initiated to support tuition assistance and capital needs. A significant planned giving program is envisioned to help meet these goals.
"Having a permanent home for the high school would allow the community to settle into the space and adjust it to suit the needs of a productive learning environment…teachers would be even more productive." Rebecca Tarnas '06
The new high school property, purchased by the Waldorf School’s Board of Trustees in 2006, is located at 470 West Portal, on the west side of the City. The newly renovated building will have 23,000 square feet of custom-built classrooms, including science labs (chemistry, physics and biology), art studios, movement facilities and a beautiful library. These attractive and beautifully designed spaces for lectures, demonstrations and practical experimentation will ideally support the faculty goals of inspiring young people to excellence and social conscience through imaginative thinking and purposeful projects.
New construction at the school will soon include a beautiful theatre designed to also accommodate a gymnasium space, and an extended arts wing constructed underneath the existing structure.
Located on a main transportation line with immediately accessible neighborhood amenities, the 1.6 acres provides ample space for immediate occupancy, and sufficient room for future expansion. Near Stern Grove, Ocean Beach and the Museums in Golden Gate Park, the new site will provide great opportunities for the school’s creative faculty to expand the educational experience. Imagine crew, a long distance running program in which students train at Ocean Beach, and dramatic performances in the Grove. There will be excellent opportunities for student projects and internships in science, art, music and zoology in the community.
"At Waldorf you feel like you are part of a community; a community that values every idea, every comment, every artistic or academic achievement you bring to them. When you are at San Francisco Waldorf School, you are not just another face that gets lost in the crowd. You are an individual that has a million doors in front of you and the keys to open all of them." Alice Zell '06
The establishment of an endowment fund, renovations to the grade school campus, and securing a home for the early childhood program are important goals of the Capital Campaign. Thirty years is too long not to have a serious endowment fund, and the school is now ready to assume the responsibility of managing and directing such an investment by the community. Generating a source of income to supplement the fees and contributions made by parents and friends will make a sizeable difference in the school ’s operations. Imagine the tuition assistance fund underwritten by actual income, rather than a subtraction from tuition income, as it is now. Such a program will move us a step further to our goal of being accessible to any family that would choose Waldorf education.
Current facilities for first and second grade are ageing quickly, and present a great opportunity to improve the entire Washington Street campus for the younger children. Picture a multi-level building with several larger classrooms, and a permanent home room for crafts, where the temporary classrooms currently reside.
The school’s three Kindergartens, the Nursery classes, and the Parenting program are all fully booked, with no room to grow. The school is exploring the possibility of acquiring a permanent home for the entire Early Childhood program, which would enable it to meet the needs of the community while freeing up valuable space on the Grade school campus.
Stage Two of the Capital Campaign will be dedicated to these objectives, and the endowment effort will be ongoing.
"Other than the fact that the new building is amazing and fits the needs of the high school perfectly, it is also important to have something of your own." Alexandra Dell’ Oliver '06
"The high school needs a permanent home first and foremost to form an identity that people can look to…this is not possible in a temporary setting. In a permanent home, the school would become a place that students from all walks of life would aspire to attend." Daniel Feldman '06
The success of the Capital Campaign is imperative to Waldorf education in San Francisco. We invite you to join this momentous endeavor to secure the future of San Francisco Waldorf School and the financial strengthening of the entire institution. Please give Capital Campaign your fullest consideration, and participate with a contribution to quality, innovative education here in San Francisco, now and for the future.
Coming together as a community is an aspect which the world is lacking at this present moment, but in the San Francisco Waldorf School the community of teachers, students and friends enables new ideas, new thinking and new learning to happen…the education that we receive goes way beyond the classroom. Michael Kuschner '06
For more information about the project and capital campaign, click here.