Princeton Montessori School 2020-21 Annual Report

Nurturing Potential. Igniting Passion.

2020-21 Annual Report www.princetonmontessori.org

Board of Trustees “The choices we make as parents speak to our priorities. Providing the very best foundational education for our children proves to be a decision that bears fruit for years to come. At Princeton Montessori School, our mission is to deliver the highest quality Montessori education to the families we serve. In doing so, we are guided by a philosophy that begins with a deep respect for the child and regard for science-based tenets of how meaningful learning occurs. With a supportive group of parents, faculty, staff, and trustees, we also provide a healthy, warm, supportive community for families to thrive in. We thank each community member for doing their part to ensure this is true!” - Michelle Morrison, HOS Dear Princeton Montessori School Community, It is our hope that this annual report to our school community will give you insight into our strategic advances, in support of our mission, and provide evidence of responsible fiscal care of our nonprofit organization. As a school, we are committed not only to providing the highest quality of education according to the Montessori philosophy, but to meeting best practices in independent school management and ethical engagement in all areas. Through meaningful and timely communication, transparency in our governance of the school, and engaging our parent body in a way that serves its educational and community-building needs, we seek to build and sustain a healthy, informed community.

This collective good work being done on behalf of the children we serve is evident daily throughout the school.

In addition, your parent support ensures we are able to meet or exceed our strategic goals in service of the families we serve. Thank you for your contributions of time, talents, and financial support! With a dedicated and passionate faculty and staff, strong leadership, support from our families, and sound governance of the Trustees, Princeton Montessori School will be here for generations to come!

In gratitude, Princeton Montessori School Board of Trustees

2020-21 Princeton Montessori School Trustees: From Left to Right: Stan Kang, Maeve Egner (former Board member), Pete Egbert, Sunanda Nair- Bidkar, Scott Eckstein, Michelle Morrison, Lee Gardner, Jennifer Ni, Rita Zetterberg, Ugur Koyluoglu, Caroline Scriven Not pictured: James Chambers, Samantha Rosenstock

Parent Association

PARENT ASSOCIATION OFFICERS 2020-21 Chair: Desirée Reitknecht

Dear Parents, The Parent Association of Princeton Montessori School is a vibrant and active organization of parent volunteers.

The mission of the Parent Association is to maintain a strong partnership and open communication among parents, faculty, and school administration. It strives to foster a warm and welcoming sense of community and opportunities to connect with other Princeton Montessori parents, as well as be involved in school life. Parents or legal guardians of students currently attending Princeton Montessori School are automatically considered members and are invited to actively participate.

The 2020-21 school year was a different year than others due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. We needed to improvise and find new ways to stay connected virtually. In the winter, a Parent Virtual Paint Night taught by Magic Arts Studio and hosted by the Social Committee was a great success. In the spring there was an outdoor Elementary and Middle School Social that gave parents a much needed opportunity to socialize and connect. There were also a few outdoor play dates at parks and an impromptu Elementary and Middle School outdoor picnic at the local shopping center.

In an effort to respond to the needs of the greater Princeton area community, the Parent Association organized activities that supported several child-focused charitable organizations. The Community Service Committee coordinated the school’s participation supporting the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, a winter hats-and-gloves drive, and a toy collection for the Children’s Home Society. In addition, emphasis was placed on how to inspire and engage the students in the community’s needs. The Middle School students recorded a book reading to educate others about children and food insecurity.

The Parent Association’s Farm-to-School Committee continued our relationship with a local area farm to provide educational programs for our Elementary and Middle School students, designed to help students better understand where our food comes from. The educational programs all took place virtually with a local farm. In addition, Elementary students had the unique experience of viewing the birth of chicks hatching in their classrooms. There was a video of the incubator broadcasting to the classroom and a video was shared for parents and children.

Secretary & Communications: Rupa Mohan Community Service Coordinators: Rebecca Piccone Providence More Room Parents: Infant - Jessica Vamvas Toddler - Olga Ekshtut Primary • Rose: Rona Aydin • Pansy: Tom Onder • Tulip: Shabnam Salih • Sunflower: Desirée Reitknecht Lower Elem - Anil Perez Upper Elem - Cheryl Gregov MS - Lisa Steinberg Princeton Common Ground Representatives: Patricia Farmer Susan Beshel Farm-to-School: Alex Cardona Ron Meier

The Parent Association recognizes that it is the teachers and staff that make Princeton Montessori School such a wonderful experience for our children. This gratitude and appreciation was expressed with an endof-the-year Faculty Appreciation Luncheon organized and funded by parents.

The Parent Association looks forward to another year of connecting with families, the school, and our community. We encourage all of our families to get involved!

Current 2021-22 Parent Association: Maria Wimmers,Rachel Pereira, Whitney Hung, Rupa Mohan, Desirée Reitknecht, Marisa Young, Samantha Brody, Providence More, Kristen VonWachenfeldt

Warm Regards, Desiree Reitknecht 2020-21 Parent Association Chair

Strategic Plan 2017-2021 As we look to the future of the school, we envision a thriving, accessible, and diverse institution that is exceptional, progressive, environmentally-friendly, and grounded in the philosophy of Montessori and best educational practices.

Our future community of learners and their parents will be connected, equally dedicated, and supportive of the organization and its constituents. The strategic work we do in the coming years will be to this end.

We are proud to report on our YEAR THREE progress on reaching our strategic goals.

Education Outcome: Increased Innovation In 2020-21, we created roles and hired the following talent for the 2021-22 school year to increase innovation in the curriculum: STEM teacher, literacy teacher, librarian, tech education specialist, and sustainability manager and ecology teacher. We also sent several teachers to multiple training courses to support innovation, some of which include: You Can Teach It ‘All’ in the Elementary Montessori Program, Instructors Academy, IB MYP training, AMS workshops & conference, Literacy training, Montessori Leadership training, and PCTE Montessori credential courses.

Outcome: Quality Assurance Communication Princeton Montessori School continued its partnership with Dr. Noble and Associates to provide psycho-educational support and proper learning intervention to teachers, parents and students when needed. We continue to use DIBELS reading screenings in grades K through 6 to ensure students are meeting grade-level benchmarks.

This year, we added a part-time position dedicated to student services for the upcoming year to ensure all of our students are meeting benchmarks and receiving the learning support they need. In addition, we added a Secondary Placement Coordinator role to our Middle School program to ensure our students are guided through the high school admissions process and are able to graduate as confident and competent young adults.

Outcome: Full Enrollment Because we were safely and successfully able to run an on-campus program since summer 2020, interest in our school has increased and we gave more tours this year than the last two years combined. In summer 2021 we enjoyed full infant through elementary summer programs.

We have started the 2021-22 academic year at nearly full capacity in our cohort-restricted classes, which include 70 families who are new to the school. Our enrollment for 2021-22 is at its highest since 2014-15. We are also

working to streamline the admissions process to provide more opportunities for the Admissions Coordinator to support the enrollment and application process.

Outcome: Increased Diversity & Inclusion Our philosophy, policies, and procedures have always been founded on our Montessori tenets, but in the 2018– 19 school year, we engaged our faculty, staff, and parents in a Diversity & Inclusion task force to study our policies and practices and identify areas needing further reflection and improvement. The concluding report, findings, and school challenges were formally accepted by the HOS and Board of Trustees in 2019. From that challenge, a Measuring Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) plan was developed and the following was accomplished through the 2020-21 school year: • Held a Two-Part Faculty & Staff Leadership Workshop on Unconscious Bias training with esteemed DEIB strategist, Dr. Derrick Gay • Hired a part-time, experienced librarian to work with faculty to update our libraries • Allocated additional funding for new books & the formation of an annual book fair for this purpose • Provided funding for faculty and school leadership to attend workshops on DEIB • Gathered diversity data from our student population to inform enrollment goals • Increased priority in our hiring, enrollment, and tuition assistance policy to meet PMonts & PCTE diversity goals • Engaged an expert for faculty to create materials and dialogue around these topics.

• Consulted the parent community in understanding how we can best ensure a sense of belonging in our community.

• Added the following to our mission statement: Princeton Montessori School is committed to providing an inclusive

Strategic Plan 2017-2021 and diverse community and learning experiences that challenge us to appreciate differences and act in a way that is inclusive and respectful to all.

• Facilitated a parents of color conversation through ‘Beyond Diversity’ to allow faculty and school leadership to listen deeply to the experiences of our families of color.

• Maximized the use of webinars and town hall conversations offered through our affiliated organizations, such as AMS, NJAIS, NAIS, and Teaching Tolerance • Sought out explicit anti-racist curriculum appropriate for each developmental level we serve

Faculty & Staff Outcome: Enhanced Accountability Measures Princeton Montessori School’s most important “professional attributes” - passion, respect, collaboration, professionalism, and embodying a growth-mindset continue to be visible and reiterated so that all employees understand the cultural expectations and strive towards the same model of behavior.

We continue to exceed the required teacher-to-student ratio set by our accrediting agency, the American Montessori Society (AMS) and have established a model of trained teacher teams that ensure children have a seamless, quality learning experience irrespective of absences. This model also provides a structure for formal and informal mentoring to assistants who may become lead teachers.

We will continue to set goals annually and evaluate employee progress based on those goals.

Outcome: Competitive & Transparent Compensation The Faculty Compensation Guide continues to be posted in the Employee handbook in an effort to promote transparency. Additional funding is now set aside each year for summer work and faculty learning that aligns with the school’s goals and educational excellence. All Upper School programs took advantage of this opportunity in summer 2021. This work included physical program redesign, subject-specific learning and curriculum redesign, IB MYP training, and AMS-offered professional webinars.

Outcome: Exceptional Staffing Several newly-trained Montessori teachers were hired for summer 2021 and the 2021-22 school year. We solidified and improved our new faculty on-boarding process to

ensure the greatest success of new hires. This included making sure that each teacher had a mentor, continuous check-in-points, access to PCTE course audits, and frequent review of PMonts policies and practices, culture, and expectations.

We continue to take interns each year in our programs to ensure a continued pipeline of talent for our school, summer camp, and training program.

Finance Outcome: Expense Model In 2020-21, we held a Board Strategic planning workshop that will help us position ourselves in a changing market.

We are currently developing a revenue and expense model in order to complement the three to five year financial strategic plan.

A business analyst was hired to assist with our goal of longer term planning and strategic business office decisions.

Outcome: Tuition & Retention Model For retention, we have enhanced our community engagement in the form of individual touch-points, small community gatherings, book clubs, surveys, and HOS / parent conversations. We also increased our faculty sharing to parents, providing new virtual options for parent meetings and learning, in an effort to educate and retain our families.

The board work continues on the assessment of a longterm tuition model based on current demographics and independent school trends.

Outcome: Data-Driven Action Organizationally, the Leadership team has improved their expertise in utilizing data resources, such as NAIS DASL & Marketplace, to take advantage of market trends and insights which help to drive our decision-making. The business office has partnered with admissions to support data entry and analysis in the enrollment process.

We have engaged a trustee service provider to refine our admissions dashboard to have the most effective analytical tools, and have also planned for a post-pandemic model of admissions and retention. In 2020-21 we created a Strategic Advancement committee on the Board of Trustees to assess business model options against current and predicted trends.

Strategic Plan 2017-2021 Internal Community Outcome: Increased Knowledge and Appreciation From parent feedback, we know that understanding the unique value of a Montessori education requires better targeted parent communication and education sessions as well as specific information about one’s child. Despite the pandemic, we were able to offer virtual live and recorded parent education sessions, bring in experts to advise parents on pandemic-related parenting concerns, and support parents one on one to guide them in the Montessori philosophy.

We completed several new informational documents and presentations that explain both the Montessori philosophy and International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IB MYP) curriculum framework.

Outcome: Increased Parent Participation Despite the challenges of coming together in person during the pandemic, we increased parent participation in informational meetings and parent education series by the convenience of virtual attendance. We offered small, outdoor parent socials and classroom playdates and encouraged the Parent Association and other interested parents to do so as well.

Our Parent Association was able to ‘carry on’ and meet regularly, sponsoring their usual philanthropic services and community engagement opportunities.

throughout the school year. It was a great challenge to keep everyone ‘on the same page’ when so much new information was coming out so frequently, but we did so successfully.

External Community Outcome: Strong Relationships We paused on advancing this goal during the pandemic, but our goal for 2020-21 will be to ensure successful alumni outreach. To that end, we’ve brought on two new trustees with expertise in this area and they will lead alumni relations through the Development committee.

Outcome: Cultivate Local Relationships We continue our Middle School Career Speaker program which brings professionals from the community into our MS to share a one hour class about their profession. We hired a Sustainability Manager who will lead in cultivating organizational relationships related to our student programs and sustainability goals.

Outcome: Montessori Relationships The HOS continues to build strong relationships within the Montessori community. She continues to mentor new Montessori Heads of School and cultivates other professional relationships among Princeton area independent schools and Montessori schools across the nation.

In 2020-21, the HOS served on the American Montessori Society (AMS) school accreditation commission and has presented at several AMS Heads of School learning sessions. She also served on the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools (NJAIS) Trustee Enrichment planning day committee and as a facilitator for NJAIS Heads of Outcome: Effective Communication School conference. The Director of Education and HOS By the sheer nature of the pandemic, we pushed beyond continue to stay connected to other Montessori schools and any discomfort of lack of know-how on reaching our parents Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education virtually and were able to meet or exceed our pre-pandemic (MACTE). standard of effective parent communication. We improved on our ability to provide live-stream and recorded examples of our educational setting and offered virtual live viewings of Campus our classrooms for prospective parents.

Outcome: Community Give Back For the upcoming year, we have committed to focus on community engagement to ensure parents, as well as children, feel Princeton Montessori School is their second home.

In our annual end-of-year parent survey, the majority of survey respondents stated that they were ‘very satisfied’ with the school’s communication frequency, clarity of information, and choice of communication medium. We are very proud of our pandemic policies and communication

The Parent Association continues to lead various community service projects during the year, i.e., food drive, diaper drive, hat and mitten collection, etc. to support local charities and offer goodwill to the community.

Strategic Plan 2017-2021 Outcome: Maximize our Campus We paused on any on-site rentals due to the pandemic. For Summer 2021, we partnered with International Ivy to offer summer programming for students ages 6+, a mutuallybeneficial relationship to showcase our school to the greater Princeton area.

Outcome: Achieve Environmentally-Friendly Operations In 2020-21, we hired a new ecology teacher who is bringing the garden back for the children to manage and enjoy. We hired a sustainability manager for 2021-22 to help us develop a sustainability plan so we can be better stewards of the earth. We have secured a contract to bring solar energy to the school, reducing our carbon footprint and saving energy costs.

Outcome: Maximize Revenue-Generating Alliances We paused on any on-site rentals due to the pandemic.

Communication Outcome: Continue to Build a Strong Reputation We strengthened our enrollment to beyond pre-pandemic levels by demonstrating our ability to deliver exceptional programs and parent communication, education, and support despite a global pandemic.

In addition, we have strengthened our teacher training brand by adding professional roles to our services, creating a feedback loop for instructors and adult learners to share their experience and suggestions, and honing our mission, culture, and style as a training center.

Outcome: Consistent and Visible Brand Awareness Active initiatives were put on hold during the pandemic.

However, we continued our print and digital advertising where we have been more strategic in executing our marketing strategies. We have added several admissions and promotional videos to our website to promote brand awareness.

Outcome: Effective Marketing We continue to deliver consistent communication for building a strong value perception within the community. The school segmented its marketing efforts into two parallel platforms: one targeted towards the Lower School and the other towards Upper School. We hired a marketing and communications associate to manage all social media accounts as well as oversee the school’s advertising placements.

Financials Dear Princeton Montessori School Community, I am pleased to share with you Princeton Montessori School’s financial standing for the ten month period from September 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. Revenues for the 2020-2021 fiscal year totaled $4,382,919 against $4,304,388 of expenses and $129,000 of capital expenditures.

Upon the Finance Committee’s recommendation, the Board of Trustees decided to align our fiscal year with the conclusion of the academic year. Such a change moves the timing of the revenues, expenses and uncertainties about the summer programs to the beginning of the fiscal year, and will allow us to plan and budget with more clarity and certainty of our revenues for the full fiscal year. As a result of this change, the 2020-2021 fiscal year turned out to be an unusual transition year of ten months’ long. Going forward, our fiscal years will start on July 1st, and run twelve months.

For that shortened fiscal year, 92% of our revenues resulted from tuition and fees, 4% from the June portion of Summer Quest and PCTE programs, with the Annual Fund contributing the remaining balance. Thanks to the generosity of parents, staff, alumni, and the Board of Trustees, the Annual Fund totaled $171,768.

With respect to the school’s expenses, 75% of the revenues were used to cover personnel’s salaries, benefits and professional development; with the remaining spent for operating expenses, debt service coverage, premises, and supplies and class activities. The school’s mortgage was refinanced in early 2020 with more favorable terms and still carries a balance of $6,445,000. In addition, the school invested $129,000 to improve educational programming, facilities, and technology.

Thank you for your commitment to the school and your continued support.

Kind Regards, Ugur Koyluoglu Board of Trustees Finance Committee Chair

Enrollment Overview 2019-2020

2020-21

2021-22

Infant

13

10

15

Toddler

29

27

42

Primary

62

58

78

LE

27

25

27

UE

29

26

30

MS

15

18

24

Total

175

164

216

Financials Financials (unaudited) for the 2020-21 Fiscal Year (10 months) Total Revenues: $4,382,919 n Net Tuition and Fees - $4,025,480

3.9% 3.5%

n Summer Quest - $154,138 n PCTE - $10,995 (.3%) n Annual Fund - $171,768 n Other - $20,538 (.5%)

Total Expenses: $4,304,388 n Personnel - $3,230,043 n Supplies and Class Activities - $143,811 n Operating - $367,172 n Premises - $260,904 n Debt Service Coverage - $302,457

91.8%

7% 6.1%

8.5%

3.3% 75%

Surplus Income: $78,530 = 1.79%

Capital Expenditures: $117,000 Building Improvements and Accessories $8,000 Technology Software $4,000 Furniture

Above presented figures are our unaudited financials for the 2020-21 Fiscal Year. They are sourced from the school’s financial management reports. Each year, an external auditor audits the school’s financials records and prepares an independent report on its findings by the end of November. This audit report is used for official filing purposes.

Annual Giving

Dear Princeton Montessori School Parents, Faculty, and Friends, On behalf of the Princeton Montessori School Trustees, we extend our sincerest gratitude to all of you who contribute to our community. For those who donated to the 2020-21 Annual Campaign, your generosity allowed the school to fund faculty development, purchase new materials and equipment for the children, and ensure our ability to meet operational expenses. You can see your donations at work on the new toddler playground equipment and in classroom refurbishments across all programs, and your children’s teachers are already implementing new ideas they learned during their summer training courses.

As with many other independent schools, tuition alone does not cover all of the school’s annual operating expenses. In fact, tuition only covers about 86% of these costs. The school relies on donations from Trustees, Parents, Alumni, Corporations and Friends of the School to bridge this gap. And remember, all donations to the Annual Campaign are 100% tax-deductible, while tuition is not. We are incredibly grateful to all of those who helped support the campaign last year. We were delighted to see so many families among the list of our caring contributors!

We hope you will make Princeton Montessori School a priority in your family’s philanthropic endeavors again this 2021-22 school year. Every gift makes a difference - no matter how large or small. Thank you for helping to support this wonderful institution.

With warmest regards, Caroline Scriven, Board of Trustees Development Committee Chair

2020-21 Campaign Donors Founders Club $10,000+ Mr. & Mrs. U. Bidkar Pete & Mary Ellen Egbert Mr. & Mrs. Fred Perkins Caroline & Thomas Scriven Joseph & Lisa Wolfe Leaders’ Club $5,000-9,999 Anonymous Anonymous Mr. & Mrs. U. Koyluoglu Jennifer Ni & Wei Sun The Vahia Family Ms. R. Zetterberg Cornerstone Club $2,500-4,999 Anonymous Anonymous Louis & Amal Barrood Lee & Nigel Gardner Barbara Hart Mr. & Mrs. Jon Hlafter Ram & Rupa Mohan The Saltarelli Family

Innovators’ Club $500-999 Anonymous Amy & Adrian Banner The Baskin Family The Betz Family The Burnfield Family Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Cusack Scott Eckstein Maeve Egner Leticia & Mauricio Ferri Mr. Shuyun Hou & Mrs. Zhaohui Liu The Janssen Family Yaron Koren Victor Liu & Sonya Xu Parker/Friedland Family The Petry-Reitknecht Family Dale & Cecilia Santos Zuoli Xu Ethan Yue’s Family Mr. Peike Zhang & Ms. Fang Luo Xiaoqian Zhao & Jiancong Sheng

Creators’ Club $250-499 Anonymous Anonymous Patrons’ Club $1,000-$2,499 Jennifer Aguilar Anonymous Mrs. Banu Eser Abi Family Erin Galbraith & Joe Amon Choi-Shields Family Vanita Jeet Gulati Chloe Brown & Hal Friedlander Michelle & Ken Jacob Melissa & Lee Davis The Lee Family Mr. Tony Fang & Ms. Yuan Yuan Shin-Yi Lin The Gregov Family Samina Kanwar & Thomas Majdanski Danqing Liu Kenneth & Vandana Montiero Matt Lynch ‘06 Providence More & Steve Downie Rick & Michelle Morrison Harpreet & Parul Pall Mr. & Mrs. Martin Neuhaus Shazah Sabuhi & Razi Hasan Rob & Jen Piaso Larry & Joyce Tatsch Schnitzer Family Ms. Margaret Thompson Dr. & Mrs. Joseph Stencel Nathan Weaver & Kevin Sullivan & Rebecca Piccone Mr. Xuehai Wang & Mrs. Weifeng Li Sarah Yang Mumma The Weber Family Yan Yu

Sustainers’ Club up to $250 Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Mr. Ralph Andujar Ms. Delmy Barrera Rob & Laura Berness Rita Brenner Adithya & Divya Chandrashekhar Ms. Martha Chaux Jennifer Christiano The Cibbarelli Family Ursula Connors Lynn Crow Nancy D’Andrea Patricia Farmer Rehana Farrell Andrew Gardner John F Gelson Amy Gerstacker Damon Grandbouche In honor of Corrington & Beatrice Hwong Mr. & Mrs. Livingston Johnson Huma Kazmi Amy Krupa Derry Light Bridget & Rob Manley

Kathryn & Robert Marmion Whitney Mclean Rohit Mehrotra & Manishi Prasad Ron Meier & Anil Perez Lisa Meisenbacher Sue Ellen Miller The Moskowitz Family Dr. Xan Nowakowski The O’Brian Family Mr. Christopher O’Brian Mr. Samuel Page & Ms. Catherine Hilton Dorothy Paul Mr. & Mrs. Luciano Procaccini Mary Reuter-May Sue Saad Tali Schnitzer Adam Schnitzer Kathleen C. Sellers The Shangle Family Sean & Megan Skeuse Olga Soto Clara E. Soto Christopher & Kathryn Sullivan Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Sung Carla Tagliente & Jessica Vamvas Kristen VonWachenfeldt Alec Walen Justin Yi

Our Mission Princeton Montessori School is dedicated to developing passion and nurturing the potential in each child, through the values and principles of the Montessori philosophy. We promote intrinsic motivation, independence, social responsibility, and a love of learning so that as global citizens, our students can lead fulfilling lives and work to better the world.

Princeton Montessori School 487 Cherry Valley Road Princeton, New Jersey 08540 609-924-4594 www.princetonmontessori.org