impact YOUR
REPORT ON ANNUAL GIVING 2018-2019
2018-2019
Volunteer Leadership BUA HEAD OF SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD Kenneth Bacow ’00 Co-chair Margo Seltzer P’16, P’18 Co-chair Carl Beatty P’16 Norman Blanchard (Questrom’88,’94) P’16 Michael Bongiorno P’18 Bradley Cohen P’19 Charles Desmond Joseph “JT” Duck Roudabeh Ghaffari P’18, P’19 Karen Gratiano P’20 Njeri Grevious ’13 Graham Healy-Day ’07 Alex Maloney ’02 Timothy Manning (MET’97) P’16 Ruth Moorman (CAS’88, Wheelock ’89,’09) P’15 Karen Mueller P’21, P’23 Barbara Rotger (MET’11) P’13, P’17 Sharon Stanfill P’11 Esmeralda Swartz P’22
Greece Trip
BUA PARENTS NETWORK LEADERSHIP TEAM Karen Gratiano P’20 Co-Chair Lynne Chuang P’21, P’22 Co-Chair Ann McCarthy P’22 Communications Coordinator Barbi Woolf P’19, P’22 Volunteer/Community Coordinator Dee Burgett P’19 12th Grade Class Representative Susan Reason (CAS ’92) P’20, P’23 11th Grade Class Representative Hongmei Wang P’20, P’22 11th Grade Class Representative Alicia Gedney P’21 10th Grade Class Representative Gina Mourtzinou P’17, P’21 10th Grade Class Representative Esmeralda Swartz P’22 9th Grade Class Representative Melissa Holt P’22 9th Grade Class Representative Myriam Cyr P’18, P’20, P’21 PIN Representative Rebecca Lamkin P’20 PIN Representative Halle Zhang P’19, P’22 WeChat Group Liaison
Field Day
Thank You! In 2018-2019, 65% of current families volunteered for BUA. We are grateful to everyone who donated their time, energy, and expertise to help our school flourish and thrive.
A MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
DEAR BUA COMMUNITY, Your generosity in giving enabled BUA to make real and tangible progress on our goals in the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Thanks to your incredible support, we made important strides in financial aid; student health and wellness; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and so much more! The philanthropy of our community allows BUA to best serve our students and faculty by evolving our curricular and extracurricular programming; by providing holistic student support; and by underwriting opportunities for learning, growth, and development, both for our students and our teachers. Boston University Academy is in a strong position to make continued progress on our strategic initiatives and institutional priorities because of your support. The following pages illustrate your impact on the many facets of our school community. As you will see, philanthropic giving to BUA makes a difference in the experience of our outstanding students and teachers every single day. On behalf of everyone at BUA, thank you! With appreciation,
Dr. Rosemary White Interim Head of School
YOUR impact
Fundraising Total Annual Fund
Total Annual Giving
$400K
$900K
$350K
$800K
$300K
$700K
$250K
$600K
(Unrestricted Annual Giving) Over Past 5 Years
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
(Unrestricted and Restricted) Over Past 5 Years
2017-18
2018-19
Charitable Giving by Source and Purpose in 2018-2019
Unrestricted
$500K
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
• Gifts are recorded in only one category, even if a constituent has multiple affiliations.
Restricted
Total
$247,882
$11,918
$259,800
Past Parents
$13,150
$213,510
$226,660
Alumni
$46,177
$90
$46,267
Faculty and Staff
$2,455
-
$2,455
Corporations and Foundations
$5,790
$123,460
$129,250
Friends and Others
$17,444
$102,798
$120,242
$332,898
$451,776
$784,674
Current Parents
Grand Total
2 Report on Annual Giving
FUNDRAISING
BY THE NUMBERS
100%
OF FACULTY AND STAFF GAVE TO THE ANNUAL FUND
$124,938
HEAD OF SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD TOTAL GIVING
$86,000 NEW GIVING DAY RECORD
$46,267 TOTAL ALUMNI GIVING
PARENT PARTICIPATION CLASS OF 2022 CLASS OF 2021 CLASS OF 2020 CLASS OF 2019
87% 80% 66% 59%
Leadership in Giving Dinner A group of current parents, past parents, and friends of BUA gathered at the home of Esmeralda and Scott Swartz, P’22, for BUA’s annual Leadership in Giving Dinner. The dinner was an opportunity to thank and recognize our lead donors in 20182019 for their commitment to Boston University Academy through philanthropic giving. It was a lovely gathering full of lively conversation and warm reminiscences about BUA. Thank you to the Swartz family for hosting!
Boston University Academy 3
Giving Day
On April 3, 2019, BUA raised a record-breaking $86,000 from 139 donors in 24 hours on BU Giving Day! Current and past BUA parents, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends turned out en masse to make this our most successful Giving Day to date. We received gifts from all corners of the country and around the world; nearly doubled the number of donors compared to last year; and broke the previous year’s giving total of $51,000. We’re especially grateful to the alumni and parent challengers who provided the dollar-for-dollar matching funds. This outpouring of support is a testament to the strength of our community and the warmth, gratitude, and connection so many of us feel towards BUA.
4 Report on Annual Giving
Great Teachers Fund for Academic Enhancement The Great Teachers Fund for Academic Enhancement was established in 2017 as a permanent endowment with a $100,000 gift from Ruth Moorman (CAS’88, Wheelock ’89,’09) and Sheldon Simon, parents of Sarah Simon ’15. The purpose of the Fund is to underwrite unique learning opportunities that lift the quality of teaching inside and outside the classroom. The Fund supported these experiences in 2018-2019: Dr. Brett Abigaña took ten jazz band students on a trip to see a show at the Regattabar in Boston. He reflects: “The trip to the Regattabar was truly inspiring for the kids. Many of our students do not have time to see live jazz and they now understand that it’s nothing like listening to an album. At the next rehearsal, the students were already trying to implement some of the ideas they saw in action, and it made for some fine music!” Dr. James Davis took students in his “Existentialism in Film and Fiction” senior seminar to see the film Us. After the show, Dr. Davis and the students discussed the horror genre of the film, its use of satire, and its commentary on modern American society. Dr. Davis said: “We were reading Franz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks, which uses French existentialism to analyze the social and psychological effects of European colonialism on people of color in the Caribbean in the 1950s. Students applied Fanon’s work to Peele’s Us and Get Out in order to understand better racism in contemporary America.”
Dr. Patricia Larash took students to see the play Black Odyssey at the Central Square Theater. Dr. Larash remarked: “Black Odyssey Boston seemed a perfect fit for BUA students. It’s an African-American reimagining of Homer’s Odyssey: not a step-bystep retelling, but a new look at the themes of the Odyssey (homecoming, identity, family) through a distinctly African-American perspective. It was a funny, thought-provoking, and deeply moving creative response to a millennia-old epic poem. Clearly, ancient texts can still speak to people today.”
Ms. Victoria Perrone invited science journalist Sarah Faulkner (COM’16) to speak with BUA chemistry classes about careers in science journalism. Irene Mitsiades ’21 wrote: “This experience taught me that although the prerequisite of scientific advancement is discovery, this is only the first step towards real progress. The second and most important is sharing the conclusions of the experiments in order to advance collective knowledge. This is the job of the science journalist, to share with the world the wealth of knowledge of the experts.” Boston University Academy 5
THE EDWARD E. FORD FOUNDATION GRANT FOR DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION A major highlight in giving in 2018-2019 was securing the $100,000 matching grant from The Edward E. Ford Foundation to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at BUA. Under the auspices of the grant, BUA has worked to increase access and retention for underrepresented minority students in the greater Boston area, and enhanced support of students by increasing institutional competency and capacity related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The BUA Diversity & Inclusion Fund has been established to support this important work beyond the grant timeline.
Dr. Talusan included “Developing Strategies for Addressing Issues of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Classroom” and “White Fragility.”
In 2018-2019, BUA drew on funds from The Edward E. Ford Foundation grant to more fully support students through increased lunch grants; free MBTA passes; and covering the costs of outside tutoring and other supplementary academic enhancements, including test prep and summer courses.
Harvard Graduate School of Education Culturally Responsive Instruction Training
BUA collaborated with DEI practitioner Dr. Liza Talusan to increase our institutional competency around diversity and inclusion for faculty and staff. Topics of faculty trainings with
Association of Independent Schools of New England workshops on themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion
This grant also enabled BUA to underwrite targeted professional development opportunities for faculty, including the following conference attendance and curriculum development trainings: National Association of Independent Schools People of Color Conference Beacon Academy Symposium
New England Association of Schools and Colleges Annual Conference: “Leading Change” The East Education Hiring for Diversity Workshop
Physical Education and Athletics In addition to supporting coaching stipends, facility rentals, transportation, and referee costs, gifts to the Annual Fund enriched the P.E. and Athletics programs in the following ways in 2018-2019: The athletic department purchased new uniforms 2018 MBIL Soccer Champions
for the Girls’ and Boys’ Tennis teams, the Ultimate Frisbee team, and the Cross Country team. Additional coaching staff were hired to support BUA’s Girls’ Tennis team. BUA reserved more court space at the University’s Fitness and Recreation Center to accommodate increased participation in Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball.
“
What I love about BUA Athletics is that everyone can compete at some level, no matter their experience. Lining up in tough varsity games alongside my friends has been an absolute thrill. I also love helping our youngest players learn the values of sportsmanship, dedication, and camaraderie.
”
— Will Reason ’20
6 Report on Annual Giving
Performing and Visual Arts In 2018-2019, BUA’s music and drama departments staged four major concerts and performances, and produced more than a dozen additional skits, plays, recitals, and shows. The music and drama budgets, bolstered by your philanthropy, covered the following expenses: Performance rights for plays and musicals: $1,970 Props and costumes: $4,848 Set construction: $1,183 Sound equipment rental: $3,165 Lighting equipment rental: $3,202 Massachusetts Young Playwrights Festival entry fees: $500 Annual dues for The National Association for Music Education: $142 Professional choreography: $2,300 Untitled, Irene Mitsiades ’21 Portrait of Cole, Saoirse Killion ’21
PERFORMANCES: • Winter Play: She Kills Monsters • Winter Concert: Beethoven’s 5th Symphony; madrigals; selections from Vox Caeli and Polytropos • Valentine’s Day Cabaret: Swing Era standards from the Benny Goodman Band, Count Basie Band, and Duke Ellington Orchestra
BUA took home nine awards in the 2019 Small Independent Schools Art League (SISAL)
• Spring Concert: Susanna • Shakespeare Seminar: As You Like it (abridged) • Ensemble Drama: Tales of Middle School, original ten-minute plays • Introduction to Drama : Ten-minute Play Festival • Spring Musical: Jonah and the Whale
• Senior Play: Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
competition, and spent $500 on printing, matting, and framing student entries.
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STUDENT ACTIVITIES AND FACULTY CULTURAL ENRICHMENT BY THE NUMBERS BUA boasts more than three dozen student clubs and a full calendar of social events and outings, most of which are made possible by support from the Annual Fund. Likewise, each year BUA faculty and staff receive a small stipend to spend on cultural enrichment: a much-loved, much-appreciated perk that is underwritten by the Annual Fund. Our school community is so vibrant in large part because we are able to subsidize amazing opportunities and experiences for our students and teachers.
194
193 TEAM COLOR BANDANAS
WORN AT FIELD DAY
16 SITES BUA STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF FANNED OUT TO
ACROSS THE BOSTON AREA FOR OUR SECOND ANNUAL
STUDENT-LED DAY OF SERVICE 8 Report on Annual Giving
PAIRS OF ICE SKATES
RENTED FOR MIDNIGHT
SKATING AT LOCK-IN
AND
8
STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
WHO TOOK THE PLUNGE
INTO THE DUNK TANK
Boston ReStore
Newton Community Farm
Charles River Conservancy
Perkins School for the Blind
Community Servings Daily Table Father’s Uplift Franklin Park Zoo Hale Bernard House Historic New England at the Lyman Estate Hope Lodge
Red Cross Food Pantry ReVision Urban Farm Tenacity The Women’s Center Women’s Lunch Place
5
STUDENTS RECEIVED SUPPLEMENTARY
FINANCIAL AID GRANTS THAT ENABLED THEM TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SPRING INTERNATIONAL TRIP TO GREECE
TEACHERS AND STAFF RECEIVED
A STIPEND OF $100 EACH FOR
CULTURAL ENRICHMENT. HERE ARE SOME
OF THE WAYS THEY SPENT THEIR STIPENDS: A subscription to the New York Review of Books
4 DOZEN TWINKLY LIGHTS AND
Membership dues for professional classical studies organizations A workshop on physics modeling A subscription to Audible.com Registration fees for the New England Association of Chemistry Teachers conference An online subscription to the Irish Academy of Music
148 CUPCAKES 72 PURCHASED FOR THE VALENTINE’S DAY CABARET
TEACHERS VIED FOR
BRAGGING RIGHTS AT BUA’S ANNUAL STUMP!
TRIVIA NIGHT
99
200
PRINTED COPIES OF MUSE, THE LITERARY MAGAZINE
OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY ACADEMY
STUDENTS AND
MARSHMALLOWS ROASTED FOR S’MORES
AT CAMP BURGESS
$12,430
BUA’S TOTAL EXPENDITURE TO SUPPORT 27 STUDENT CLUBS RANGING FROM KNITTING CLUB TO GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE, FROM SENIOR PLAY TO YEARBOOK Boston University Academy 9
YOUR impact
Financial Aid Boston University Academy is committed to providing an exceptional and accessible education for talented and passionate students from all backgrounds and circumstances. We recognize that the cost of a BUA education is a significant financial investment for all families. To that end, in 2018-2019 we expanded our financial aid and grant program to better account for the full costs associated with attending BUA. For the first time, BUA provided free MBTA passes for all students who receive financial aid, and provided laptops to students whose grants represent 75% or more of the cost of tuition. These additional funds have enabled students receiving financial aid to participate in the full range of activities and experiences that comprise a BUA education.
“
IN 2018-2019: • • •
31% OF FAMILIES RECEIVED FINANCIAL AID AVERAGE NEED-BASED AWARD: $30,457 RANGE OF AWARDS: $2,716-$46,508
• AVERAGE INCOME OF FAMILIES RECEIVING FINANCIAL AID: $152,037
The BUA experience is indescribable. My daughter has been challenged and stretched in directions we would never have imagined: academically, socially, and athletically. She entered BUA as a smart, slightly bored, nice kid. She leaves as an intelligent, thoughtful, engaged young adult ready to conquer any opportunity. As a single parent, this would never have been possible without the financial assistance awarded from BUA.
”
— Karen Gratiano P’20
2018-2019 HALEY MURPHY MORRILL SCHOLAR Benista Owusu-Amo ’21 was selected as the 20182019 Haley Murphy Morrill Scholar, which is awarded to a sophomore girl who embodies the traits of loyalty, friendship, and avid readership. The Haley Murphy Morrill Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 2008 by Eileen Murphy and Bruce Morrill in memory of their beloved daughter, Haley Murphy Morrill (BUA Class of 2010).
10 Report on Annual Giving
Student Support
Holistic support for students remains a top priority, and Interim Head of School Dr. Rosemary White is especially passionate about ensuring the health and wellness of every BUA student. In 2018-2019, we made significant strides in increasing community building and social-emotional wellbeing through a reimagined class meeting curriculum that encourages student voice and a sense of belonging. BUA’s school counselor also led weekly small-group classes for ninth and tenth graders on issues like identity and values, social media use, healthy relationships, and the #MeToo movement.
Boston University Academy 11
YOUR impact
Alumni Impact
BUA Alumni Gathering in Washington, DC (from left): Simon Korn ’13; Abigail Walsh ’04; Benal Johnson ’14’; Joseph Recht ’06; Natalie Mayer ’14; Leah Fine ’08; Daniel Greenberg ’10; David Stone; Rosemary White; David Fisher ’96
“
BUA is a special place that gave me the best high school experience I could have received. Giving to BUA is my way to pay that experience forward to current and future students.
”
— Ella Hathaway ’13
12 Report on Annual Giving
160 alumni attended events in 5 cities: Boston, Providence, New York, Washington DC, and San Francisco. 43 alumni attended more than one alumni event. 41 alumni volunteered for BUA as admission interviewers, panelists, speakers, college ambassadors, or career ambassadors. More than 60 alumni increased their Annual Fund gift, which helped BUA to secure the E. E. Ford matching grant of $100,000 for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The Class of 2019 raised funds to help furnish a new outdoor patio for students to gather, eat lunch, share ideas, continue class conversations, and form lifelong friendships.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY ACADEMY.
Your philanthropy accelerates our progress and extends our capacity to support the efforts of our students and faculty. When you make a gift, no matter the amount, you make a tangible impact at Boston University Academy.
To make a gift to the 2019-2020 Annual Fund, please visit
buacademy.org/support
In our caring high-school community, students who love learning are challenged to think critically and read deeply, and to explore adventurously the wider world of learning at Boston University.