Letter to Our Community

DEAR FRIENDS,

It is with enormous gratitude that we present to you this report outlining our community’s 2020-21 philanthropic support for Seattle Academy, and the investments we made with your generous gifts to innovate and create the best possible experience for our students and community during this pandemic year. We began the school year in the midst of a global pandemic, economic headwinds and social upheaval. Despite those uncertainties and challenges, the SAAS community rose to the challenges. In the classroom, students adapted to Zoom classes, hybrid classes and a return to campus—demonstrating a remarkable resilience. Faculty worked tirelessly to innovate and connect. Student-athletes played on despite shortened seasons, and having to compete while wearing masks. Student artists created, collaborated, performed and inspired. Throughout it all, parents and family members partnered with SAAS to wrestle with complex problems, implement creative solutions, to take care of each other in as many ways as we could, and to advance our mission to question, imagine and create in order to contribute boldly to a changing world. Our community benefited greatly from the more than $7.6 million in philanthropic support for Seattle Academy this year. With these commitments, we not only transitioned our education and extracurricular offerings to a fully remote experience in the fall and a hybrid model in the spring, we were also able to keep our community together by offering an additional $1 million in financial aid for families affected by COVID-19; fully fund the technology upgrades needed for effective remote learning; retrofit our campus to meet COVID-19 health and safety standards; and advance our critical diversity, equity and inclusion work. We are deeply appreciative of the many volunteers who helped us maintain our connections to one another, advanced our fundraising efforts and celebrated our faculty, staff and students. Their gifts of time were critical in a year when we couldn’t be together. As we head into a new school year, we know our community is strong and our fiscal outlook is sound. To everyone who supported SAAS this year—parents, alumni families, faculty and staff, grandparents and friends—please know that your contributions this year have made a lasting impact on the lives of our students, and helped to bring our mission to life in this exceedingly difficult year. We are deeply grateful.

With Appreciation,

Rob Phillips Head of School David Sheppard Chair, Board of Trustees