Here at Santa Fe Montessori School our promise to families is “education for life.” For nearly four decades, our faculty has been shepherding aspiring young hearts and minds to the summits of self-fulfillment by nurturing bright-eyed exploration, bold experimentation, and budding self-expression.
At Santa Fe Montessori we partner with parents to deepen and accelerate each child’s educational experience and to create a sense of community where every child is given a foundation for academic and personal success.
This kind of partnering is family-centered—it connects classroom and home to better each child’s individual learning. At Santa Fe Montessori, we ask parents to make classroom visits, conference with teachers, join our Parents’ Association, and attend our events, and to regularly share their perspective on their child’s learning.
However, we also have another kind—partnering rooted in philanthropy. At Santa Fe Montessori, we also ask our families to give of their time and resources to support our school as an institution and as a community. This is school-centered partnering. It connects family and school to achieve the goal of a better place to learn.
Both kinds of partnership—family-centered and school-centered—are essential to fulfilling our promise, “education for life.”
As you may know, private schools (schools receiving no government funding) strive to keep tuition to a minimum by setting tuition levels lower than program cost. To make up the difference, they fundraise. This is true at Santa Fe Montessori, where our annual giving program is essential to sustain and enhance our school.
At Santa Fe Montessori, we invite every family to partner with us by making an annual donation to help us close the “tuition gap,” which is the gap between tuition and program cost—about $600 per child. We use Annual Fund donations to support instruction, to reward our teachers for their outstanding work on behalf of students, and to enrich our program to promote each child’s learning. Gifts of cash, securities, real estate, and vehicles are all ways of donating to the Santa Fe Montessori Annual Fund. Please click here to print an annual pledge form.
Annual giving has benefits to families. Santa Fe Montessori school is a fully qualified 501 (c) (3) charity. As with all voluntary charities, this means donations are tax-deductible. We can maintain tuition at a lower level, and those who donate receive the added benefit of a tax advantage. In addition we recognize donors in a variety of ways when they make a tuition-gap closing gift. One way is to include them in a permanent campus display of personalized Child Art tiles.
In addition to our annual giving program we also offer other opportunities for philanthropy. The Nancy Terry Sager Endowment Fund is a permanent tribute to Santa Fe Montessori’s founder. Donations to this fund support tuition-assistance for needy families so that Santa Fe Montessori maintains a diverse school environment to benefit all children.
Planned giving is another option. Santa Fe Montessori encourages estate gifts and is prepared to work with donors to make a planned gift that will assist them and their estate as well as the school. Donors are recognized as members of our Legacy Circle.
Volunteerism is another form of philanthropy at Santa Fe Montessori. Our teachers embrace and enjoy parent support, and we have a vigorous Parent Association dedicated to providing it. Other ways to give include in-kind giving. Families are encouraged to give new and used items to our school to benefit our programs. Donating professional services is also a way to give at Santa Fe Montessori.
Partnering through family involvement is the way we build our community. At Santa Fe Montessori, community is the foundation of all we do—and it is how we make good on our promise, “education for life.”
2008-2009 Annual Report
