KIT
David H. Feldman Head of School
STATE OF THE SCHOOL
I’d like to offer a special thank you to the many first-year Roeper families who joined us on the evening of the 12th; your energy and involvement in the many conversations that night help make us a stronger community. During a recent Board meeting, a Trustee shared with me that one of the key tasks of a good school head was to be able to be so well informed within the field that you are always able to peek around the corner and know what is coming next. The idea is of course to be ahead of the trends, to be informed of best practices, and to anticipate the needs of the institution before those needs occur.
numbers are predicted to drop 1 – 2%, or at best, remain flat over the next five years. • As in many industries today, there is a generational shift in our faculty, as many of our long-serving baby-boom-generation teachers are retiring. • There is a greater need for programs focused on the mental health and emotional well being of students, particularly early adolescents and adolescents. • The cost of independent schools and private school in general continues to increase at a rate above cost of living. • There is a greater need for on-going parent education to help support the social and emotional needs of gifted children. Educators at all levels, especially at the college level, see students lacking in agency and self-advocacy skills that were more routine a decade earlier. Each of these areas are both opportunities and risks for The Roeper School; our focused awareness and our strategic focus on each area is critical as we continue into our unknown future. Facts about our Funding and the Budget
To some degree, the State of School presentation that I share with the community each year is my attempt to share not just our current status, but to help our community see that unknown future that George and Annemarie described in the Roeper Philosophy. Or as George reminded us: “Maybe the most important thing we have to do with our children is to make them ready to adapt themselves to change.”
The Roeper School is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit with an annual budget of just over $17,000,000. Like all not-for-profits, each year, we seek a balanced budget. As an independent school, we do not accept any funding from any government source; we are funded entirely by tuition dollars and the fund-raising efforts of the good people in our Development Office.
In my talk this year, I shared five areas of approaching change that I think are worth noting as we consider the educational landscape in Michigan and the Roeper community specifically. Each element poses unique challenges to our practices, and as the trustee reminded me, we have an obligation to be aware of the shifting footing upon which we stand.
This past year, our endowment fund eclipsed the $8,000,000 mark and is being ably managed by our Board of Trustees’ Investment Committee. It is the growth of this fund that should give each of us reason for hope. The larger the endowment grows, the less dependent we will be on tuition increases to sustain the school. The Investment Committee has created a spending policy that yields about 4% annually from the fund for inclusion into the annual budget.
• There is a demographic shift downward in the school-aged population across the State of Michigan. Statistics for 2020 show that there are 3% fewer elementary-school-aged children in the Wayne and Oakland County region than five years earlier. The population
The School also carries some debt, about $3,000,000 in total. The debt comes from previous capital projects like the Community Center Building and the Steward Building. The Finance Committee of the Board keeps watch on interest rates and has renegotiated the interest rate
Our Changing Landscape
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MARK WRIGHT
On February 7 and 12, 2020 Board Chair, Ashley Lowe and Vice-Chair Clay Thomas joined me for our annual State of the School presentation. This summary presents the highlights from that talk. I encourage you to please reach out to me to discuss any element in greater detail or to seek clarification. We encouraged those in attendance to engage us in dialogue that evening, and I want to extend that same courtesy to you as you review this written summary.
To some degree, the State of School presentation that I share with the community each year is my attempt to share not just our current status, but to help our community see that unknown future that George and Annemarie described in the Roeper Philosophy.
