PARENT SUPPORT GROUP REPORT

Empowering Parent Involvement

OUR SCHOOL BENEFITS greatly from incredible parent involvement, working together to enhance student programs, foster a sense of community, and generate funds. Our parent volunteer and fundraising initiatives fall into four main groups: Parents' Association, Boosters Club, POCIS, and Country Day Fund. Many of you have volunteered, given back, and supported these efforts throughout the school year, and it has made an incredible difference. In the spirit of transparency and celebration, we want to take a moment to not only say THANK YOU but also report back on how your volunteer and fundraising efforts made an impact.

From Kristin Sturges Hair ’95, Parents’ Association President

The Parents’ Association (PA) builds connection, fosters community spirit, provides volunteer opportunities, and raises supplemental funds through events and other gatherings open to all Country Day families. From the Auction and Big Saturday to the All-School Picnic and Run for Good, the PA had a wonderful year of events, gathering as a collective community to celebrate our school. The PA also hosted many events to honor our amazing faculty and staff, including the first ever full faculty/staff celebration week. In addition to all the hospitality events that are held at the division level, this new event was a week to thank every employee who makes Country Day the special place that it is. There were also many people serving as classroom or advisory parents, opening carpool doors, helping with parent education events, or with the arts and drama receptions. Throughout the year over 700 volunteers made all of this happen. Thank you to everyone that helped in any way, big or small. Our school is a better place because of you.

From our fundraising efforts, the PA gave back over $425,000 to the school. The majority of these funds went toward security improvements on Cannon Campus and technology upgrades in the Gorelick Family Theater. Many smaller items were gifted at the division level as well, including new basketball goals for the Lower School playground, the beloved Artists in Residence program at the Middle School, and other needed items for the arts and science classrooms in the Upper School.

Thank you again to our entire parent community for helping make this year such a success!

From Gaston and Erin Bates, Boosters Club Co-Chairs

The Boosters Club supports our student athletes through a variety of spirit-promotion, fundraising, and community-building activities. The Boosters Club had a very busy second half of the school year. Some highlights include hosting both winter and spring Lower and Middle School spirit events, operating Bucs Cafe during Big Saturday, and providing concessions during this year’s Mecklenburg County Special Olympics Spring Games. Boosters sold over $36,000 in concessions between January and May, and we could not have done it without the support of our parent volunteers, who spent countless hours in our concession stands during home sporting events. Additionally, the Boosters Club made a generous commitment to the revival of the Athletics Hall of Honor (see more on page 26). All funds raised by the Boosters Club directly support the athletics department and our student-athletes Middle School through varsity.

From Brianna McRae, POCIS Chair

People of Color in Independent Schools (POCIS) supports families of color and the school’s DEIB initiatives and serves as a space of unity and belonging. This year, POCIS aimed to continue “valuing the relationships uniting us as a school,” one of Country Day’s key values, by putting relationship building first in our programming. Members of the POCIS community and beyond helped make the annual Back-to-School Cookout and Lower School Buccaneer’s Choice Dance two of the highest-attended events in POCIS history. Through these events, parents, faculty, staff, and students shared laughs, awesome dance moves, and favorite recipes while building and deepening old and new relationships. With the proceeds from the dance, POCIS was able to increase its support of the Mark E. Reed Scholarship. Finally, we were thrilled to highlight two of our diverse faculty and staff members in our Getting to Know You series during the general body meetings. We are thankful for this community within the greater Country Day community and the friendships that have resulted from it.