12 minute read
Winter at a Glance
Winter at
Priory Basketball Reaches New Heights
Priory boys basketball players are a formidable presence this season. The team gets an extra boost from Hungarian brothers George and Gregory Somogyi, a six-foot-five senior and seven-foot-one junior respectively, and Reggie Willhite, a six-foot-three senior. In this photo, Greg rises above two Robert Lewis Stevenson players in a pre-season game. Over Christmas vacation, the Panthers broke Sacred Heart’s 78-game winning streak in the Private Schools Athletic League.
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Father Egon’s 90 th ; Priory’s 50th
It was a joyous celebration, and both the chapel and dining hall were filled with well-wishers for the Nov. 11, 2006 event. Abbot Matthew Leavy, OSB, was joined by speakers from across the decades, including John Fisher, Dave Arnold, and Greg Hampton. Eva E. Voisin, honorary consul of the Republic of Hungary also spoke, and Portola Valley Vice-Mayor Ted Driscoll read a proclamation of congratulations from the town council.
Check
www.woodsidepriory.com Recent News
• Father Egon’s Birthday Mass and Reception • Father Frances Shawa’s School in Zambia • Fall Semester Events on the Campus • Webcam online, real-time construction coverage. Go to Quicklinks.
a Glance
Not Rain Nor Snow Nor Gloom . . .
Through the cold, windy and rainy days of December and freezing January, Priory’s outstanding construction crew was at work, and the long-awaited Performing Arts Center auditorium and classrooms are going up on schedule. Watch the construction as it happens from the webcam link on the Priory website.
Registrar Barbara Falk Retires
Almost 30 years ago, when Barbara Falk was the Priory’s switchboard operator, she managed campus communication by literally connecting people. Today, as the Priory’s registrar and assistant to the deans, she is still at the hub of a communications network. She is responsible for nearly all of the official record-keeping, from attendance to transcripts to PowerSchool. She provides a copy service for faculty and information service for students and parents; she knows who does what and where everybody is. Her skill, knowledge and especially her friendly smile will be missed when she retires in June 2007 after completing her 30 th year. Mrs. Falk first worked at the Priory as a temporary employee, standing in for her mother-in-law, Kay, who needed several weeks of medical leave. When Kay returned to her job in the kitchen, Barb stayed and shortly moved to the switchboard. In 1981, she became assistant to Father Simon, who was Prior at that time, and later moved into her current position. “The Priory has been so fortunate to have such a dedicated and committed employee as Barb. Her presence and willingness to help in any crisis or situation will make her shoes very hard to fill. We wish her well,” said Tim Molak.
Trudelles at State
Chrissa Trudelle follows a family tradition in running competitively all the way to State level, where she placed 24 th of 166. Like Chrissa, brothers Steven and Peter ran in state-level competition in their junior and senior years.
Valjean and Javert Face Off
“Les Miserables”, the musical that swept Broadway by storm and is now the most performed and popular musical in the world, opens for a two-week run this spring on the Priory Assembly hall stage. This school edition contains all of the songs, dialogue and story of the original but has been trimmed by the original creators to run two hours in length. Shows are Wednesday, February 28 through March 10. For information, check www.woodsidepriory.com. Click on Recent News.
Father Francis Brings Zambia to Priory
Father Francas Shawa, a colleague in the international Benedictine educators association, spent several weeks on the campus in late fall sharing his school’s stories, pictures and music with Priory students and teachers. The Katibunga school serves boys and girls of all grades; the photo is of the older high school students. 5
6 School Community: A small school by choice and design.
High School: 254 Middle School 96 52% male, 48% female
Boarding Students: 49 45% female 55% male
This year, international boardingstudents are from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, India, Germany, China and Hungary. Most U.S. residents live within a 50-mile radius of the campus with a few coming from Northern California, the Midwest and Puerto Rico. International and United States residents are about equally divided.
Tuition, Financial Aid and Cost of Education Tuition: $26,700 for day students and $34,932 for boarding students (includes lunches and most school activities). Twenty-one percent of students, both day and boarding, received some financial aid. From a pool of $1.28 million, the average grant was $17,288. Eighteen percent of the financial aid budget went to targeted less-advantaged student populations. Three students were awarded Benedictine Scholarships for graduates of local Catholic schools. That scholarship pool was $45,000.
The actual cost of a Priory education is nearly $4,000 per student more than tuition and fees. This difference is covered mainly by the Annual Fund, Auction and special gifts to the school. About 90% of parents and many members of the Priory’s extended community of alumni, relatives and friends help close this gap.
Scholastic Achievement National Merit—eight commended scholars, one semifinalist; almost 13% of the senior class. Advanced Placement Test Scores—116 students took 259 exams. On a scale of 1 (highest) through 5, 90% of these exams scored 3 or better; more than 73% scored a 4 or 5. Advanced Placement Scholars—39% of students who took the exams achieved scholar status. Fourteen were AP Scholars, 13 were Scholars with Honors, 18 were Scholars with Distinction and 2 were National Scholars—the highest designation. SAT Scores—Mathematics average: 658, Critical Reasoning average: 628; Writing average: 630
Courses and Activities H-Block Clubs and Activities—36 Some are for course credit, some are without credit to allow students a chance to explore without concern for their grade point average. Advanced Placement Courses—19 New Course Electives— nine, including Marine Biology, Oceanography, History of Rock & Roll, History of Islam, Visions of Excess, Theology through Lit and Film, Beginning Computer Programming, Master Acting Lab, and Writing for Performance. Most popular activity—athletics, with nearly all Middle School and about 75% of High School students participating in team sports. Visual and Performing Arts also score high in student participation.
Student-Teacher Ratios Class size—Average is 12.4 students. The vast majority of classes are between 14 and 18 students. Some classes in grades 10-12 have smaller numbers of students. Teacher/Student Ratio—The full-time-equivalent teacher/student ratio is 9 to 1. The ratio of teachers and student support staff to students is 6 to 1.
Admissions Locally, the day student applicant pool for both the High School and Middle School remained stable. There was a significant increase in boarding student applications from American as well as international applicants. Campus leadership continues to reach out to our international community as a way of becoming a truly global community. The establishment and active role of Priory Parent Associations around the world is very welcome and encouraging.
What a banner year 2005 - 2006 was for Woodside Priory! All indicators say that the Priory as an educational institution is (to borrow a business management term) “up and to the right.” In the first semester of 2006-2007, those indicators are still strong. Here are a few achievements over the past 18 months. • In spring 2006, we achieved the maximum accreditation (6 years) from the Western
Association of Schools and Colleges, following a through self-examination and on-campus scrutiny by a visiting team of educators. • In the Middle School, a concentrated effort to revitalize and consolidate the curriculum last year has paid off this year. “Core classes” –extended blocks of time to concentrate on language arts and academic skill-building—were created.
Students’ standardized test scores this fall show very positive results, and faculty feedback is equally positive. • High School students have a broader variety of elective classes to choose from. They are attaining a richer community service experience since the program was integrated with classroom academics. Students now have more time for preparation, personal reflection and classroom discussions about issues of social justice. • We continue to work with B-E-NET, the international Benedictine educators’ association.
See our story on Father Francis Shawa, pages 4-5. • The new Academic Resource Center, now in its second year, is a huge asset. A learning specialist and counselor provide one-on-one support for all students. This team also helps teachers and parents offer effective support. • Last year, the faculty took a hard look at homework assignments and scheduling during the school day in an effort to reduce student stress. We are watching this year to see if the changes are effective. • We continue to be a first-choice, highly regarded college prep school on the midPeninsula. We continue to expand our international community and maintain those ties. As we are able to build our endowment and scholarship funds, we look forward to sharing a Priory education with an increasingly diverse student body.
We are being guided this year by a new booklet, Being Benedictine, published by our parent abbey, Saint Anselm College and Abbey. It is an insightful look at how monastic and lay people live out the Rule of Saint Benedict and the meaning of its values. I see everyone in the Priory community—trustees, parents, students, faculty and staff—helping to support this goal. The vignettes throughout this annual report offer just a glimpse of the ubiquitous sharing of personal time, talents and treasures. With this foundation, we will be all we can be. I thank you for all that you do.
Peace,
Tim Molak Head of School
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Fundraising Report * Fiscal Year from July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2006
Priory Gift Support 2004 – 05 Annual Fund
Unrestricted $ 1,278,615 Restricted - Scholarship $ 33,958 Total $ 1,312,573 Unrestricted to Capital Campaign
Gross Proceeds: Events
Golf Classic $ 66,830 Auction $ 392,166 Total $ 458,996
Temporarily Restricted
Total Annual Support $1,771,569 Total Special Gifts$ 150,000 Total Gift Support: $1,921,569
(does not include Golden Jubilee Campaign
Golden Jubilee Campaign Gift Revenue
(Defined as Campaign gifts and pledge payments received between July 1 2005 and June 30, 2006, not including pledges made but not paid in that period. A cumulative report of Campaign gifts is in the Campaign Update, page 34.)
revenue, listed to the right.)
(Includes Campaign and Annual gifts) Operating Budget for 2005–2006 ** Expenditures † Investment Income 4% Residential and Annual Gifts Expenses 24%
Trinity Project
Total Capital Campaign Gifts
$520,621 $2,697,104
Endowment Temporarily Restricted
Total Endowment and
$3,217,725
$258,795 550,617
Total Priory Gift Revenue $5,948,706
* Figures in this report are presented in standard fundraising categories by the Development Office, rather than in financial categories. The Development Office and Business Office reconcile their figures monthly.
Physical Plant Expenses 15%
Operating Education and Student Services 61%
Income †
Rental Fees, Bookstore, Misc. Income 3%
$809,412 and Auction 14%
Benedictine Contributed Services 1%
Tuition and Fees 78%
Actual Total Expenditures $11.6 million Actual Total Income $12.2 million
** Hood and Strong, LLP., Auditors • Fiscal Year is from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006 † Annual Income and Expenditures do not reflect Capital Campaign fundraising and expenses.
Priory Community
On behalf of the Board of Trustees I want to warmly thank all of you for your support of Woodside Priory School. That support begins when you who are parents entrust your children’s education to our teachers and administrators, and that support continues in so many other ways. Your volunteerism helps create the kind of community spirit that St. Benedict envisioned. Your generosity helps the school reach out to those who need financial aid, and that increases many kinds of diversity at the school. Your visionary support is helping us rebuild and replace our aging infrastructure.
The Golden Jubilee campaign phase one is entering the home stretch as the Performing Arts Center buildings begin to rise from our former parking lot. Also our hopes rise for the completion of the campaign, a campaign that has already raised over 75% of its goal. We need to reach the finish line if we are to complete all the projects envisioned by the campaign, and we count on the continued support of our generous benefactors, and look for new support from the entire Priory Community.
The Board of Trustees is very proud of how much progress has been made in the past several years. Financially, the operations of the school are much stronger than several years ago, and our long-range planning indicates that this will continue in the coming years. The strength is built on the responsible planning of our administrators and the continued efforts of our advancement offices. The Admissions Office is responsible for finding the qualified students to join us each year and the Development Office for reaching out to the Priory community and beyond for their assistance. Our family has been at the Priory for eight years, with our oldest son, Clint, in college now, and Wes in seventh grade. I have noticed over this time that a majority of the Board of Trustees are not parents of current students. Members of the local community who recognize the value of an independent school in Portola Valley donate their time and effort to help guide the school forward. Their experience and insight are invaluable. Often they help the Priory focus past our current concerns and identify the challenges that are coming in the future. Also, the monastic community, both through the Board of Trustees and through the governing Board of Directors, helps us all understand the tradition that comes with being Benedictine. That often strengthens our resolve to withstand the pressures of modern society, while still preparing students for a world in need of their gifts.
With the diverse sources of support we enjoy, I am confident the Priory’s strength will continue to grow in the coming years.
Peter Campagna Chair, Board of Trustees
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