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Looking Ahead for Windward
New Board Chair and Two New Trustees Appointed to the Board
A Message from the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Patty Wolff
Thank You to the Outgoing Chair As an alumni parent, I have experienced firsthand the transformative power of a Windward education. The benefits not only for the students but also Windward families are immeasurable. Consequently, it has been my privilege to serve on the Board for the last five years, and I am incredibly humbled and honored to succeed Ellen Bowman as Board Chair. Ellen served on the Board for 13 years and oversaw the opening of the Manhattan campus, development of a new strategic plan, launch of The Windward Institute, recruitment of a new head of school, and the decision to purchase the new Westchester Lower School campus property. On behalf of the entire Board and Windward community, I thank Ellen for her tireless work and unending commitment to The Windward School. She led the Board with grace, elegance, and a true passion and has left a tremendous legacy for which we are all greatly indebted. New Trustees Last July, the Board welcomed two new trustees, Sandip Singh and Anike Wariebi, who are Windward parents and passionate about furthering the School’s mission. They bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, including strategic planning, marketing, real estate, and entrepreneurship. The Windward Fund Thanks to the generosity of the community, the Windward Fund had its best year ever in 201920. The School raised over $2.4 million, with $1.5 million in gifts made by current parents and guardians. I am so grateful to our generous donors and all the volunteers on the Windward Fund Committee. A special thanks to Michael Cummins, Christopher Dooley, Jorge SolaresParkhurst, and Amerika Williamson, who cochaired the 201920 Windward Fund. Windward Benefit and Giving Week As a result of the global pandemic, the School had to postpone the 2020 benefit. I would like to thank our cochairs, Susan Petrie Badertscher, Stephanie Mack, and Anike Wariebi, as well as all our donors and sponsors who provided support for the event. Your steadfast commitment to the school and flexibility during challenging times is incredible.
During #WindwardGIVES from November 29December 5, the Windward community had its single largest week of giving in the School’s history raising $670,000. These funds go toward COVID19 response, financial aid, and more. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) One of the priorities of the current strategic plan is to ensure we “proactively cultivate an inclusive and diverse community.” Mr. Williamson and the Board are committed to this work to ensure that our faculty, students, parents, guardians, alumni, and Board foster a community environment where all points of view are respected and valued. During the fall, work began to build on existing DEI activities at Windward and to develop a vision and multiyear plan. New Westchester Lower School Campus In October, the School opened the new Westchester Lower School campus at 1275 Mamaroneck Avenue. Originally scheduled for Fall 2021, the opening was accelerated to enable inperson learning during the global pandemic. Although there are construction projects that remain to be completed, the finished campus will be over 100,000 square feet and feature classrooms, arts and music facilities, a new athletic field, and spaces for communitybuilding activities. It also holds two auditoriums and expanded space for The Windward Institute. This will enable the School to provide greater access to The Windward School’s unparalleled program. Fall Opening As I reflect on the past year, I am in awe of how resilient the leadership team, faculty, staff, and Windward families have been during this time. This fall, the School opened its buildings to ensure that all students have access to inperson, researchbased, direct instruction while also continuing to provide remote learning for those families who chose that option. The level of dedication and commitment to the mission of the School is evident each day. This experience, while trying and complex, once again reminded me that Windward is truly an exceptional place. I, on behalf of the entire Board, am so thankful to Mr. Williamson for his leadership and to the administration, faculty, and staff who work hard each day to give the gift of a Windward education to the students. Respectfully,
The Windward School’s 202021 Board of Trustees comprises 24 members who contribute their experience and expertise to advance the mission of the school.
Anike Wariebi
Anike has spent 20+ years working in marketing and consultancy for Fortune 50 companies in various global leadership roles. She is currently Vice President of Global Entertainment Partnerships at American Express. Previously, Anike worked at Apple, where she served as Head of Marketing. Anike has a BA in business economics from Leicester University in the UK; an MBA from INSEAD in France, including exchange with The Wharton School; an MFA from the University of Oxford; and a postgrad in psychology from University College London. Anike is a native of London, UK, but now resides in Rye, NY, with her husband, Mike, and two daughters, Jasmine ’26 (WMS seventhgrader) and Amber ’29 (WLS fourthgrader). In her spare time, Anike chronicles her journey walking alongside a child with dyslexia and dyspraxia in her blog www.specialchilduk.com. Sandip Singh
Sandip has 25 years of experience in strategy consulting, healthcare, and real estate investing. His leadership roles include the development of a multispecialty hospital in Mumbai and successful reorganization of a hospital on Long Island. He currently invests in multifamily properties and land development deals. Sandip received a BA from the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell University, and he earned an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Sandip serves on the board of Brunswick Hospital Center and is a member of the Board of Directors of YMCA of Long Island. He is also a vicepresident on the executive committee for the Wharton Alumni Club of New York. Sandip lives in Scarsdale with his wife, Saloni, and their two sons. Rohan ’25 is an eighthgrader at Windward in Westchester, and Aarav is a sixthgrader at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry.
The Windward School Core Values
“Living into our values ...means that we do more than profess our values, we practice them. We walk our talk— we are clear about what we believe and hold important, and we take care that our intentions, words, thoughts, and behaviors align with those beliefs.” —Brené Brown
The Windward School is an institution that abides by certain practices and rules of conduct—but what are they? Head of School Mr. Williamson set out to define the core values of The Windward School by surveying the faculty and staff community. “We will define our values as a school, and we will shape our work every day in reflection of our core values,” he said. After weeks of discussion and reflection, the faculty and staff across all campuses identified four core values of The Windward School: commitment, growth, impact, and community. 1. Windward’s unparalleled commitment to a world where every child with a languagebased learning disability is empowered to achieve unlimited success guides our every action. 2. A growth mindset at Windward is shared by all and takes many forms, from academic growth for students to professional growth for faculty and staff to enrollment growth for number of students served. 3. Each day Windward strives to make a lifechanging and transformational impact on every individual child in the classroom and within the greater learning disability population. 4. Windward believes in building a diverse and inclusive community that puts our students at the center of all we do, and where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging.
Looking Ahead for Windward
Although the new Westchester Lower School campus opened nearly one year early to accommodate inperson instruction, construction is not yet complete. The property’s 110,000 square feet were a key piece of Windward’s plan to offer a socially distanced inperson instruction environment, so construction plans were accelerated in order for the School to furnish spaces as quickly as possible for students for this school year.
Expediting construction by nearly a full year, and so far ahead of the previous Fall 2021 opening date seemed impossible, but Windward’s building partners rose incredibly to the challenge to get classroom spaces prepared in order to best serve the School’s Westchester students for inperson learning. Opening the new Westchester Lower School campus facilities early prevented the alternative plan of only being able to offer a limited hybrid inperson instructional model at the original Westchester Lower School campus at 13 Windward Avenue.
All remaining construction projects are in progress so that the full Westchester Lower School architectural design will be realized for the start of the 202122 school year. A formal ceremony will then be held to acknowledge the completion of the new building and latest addition to The Windward School campuses.
Completed Projects
Renovation of existing building to house: • Grades 15 classrooms • Academic technology including highspeed internet and wireless connection to all Windward campuses • Faculty work rooms • Allpurpose room • Academic administrative and student support offices • HVAC system upgrade with UV lighting for air purification • New roof, windows, ceilings, and lighting Athletic field and play area Redesigned parking area plus bus and pickup lanes Projects to Be Completed for 202122 School Year
Front entrance façade and connector between gymnasium and main building Gymnasium with full A/V capabilities Additional buildout of library Full kitchen installation and outfitting of Dining Hall Construction of The Windward Institute lecture halls Playground equipment installation Permanent landscaping and signage Permanent flooring for front entrance and reception Administrative office suite for Admissions, Business,
Communications, Development, and Human Resources Gardenlevel suite for Technology, Facilities, and storage
ThreeYear Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan
As outlined in our Strategic Plan, The Windward School believes in a diverse and inclusive community, and we are committed to proactively cultivating a caring, nurturing, and empathetic environment, where everyone is valued and has a sense of belonging. Further, we recognize that this work is truly a journey and that we have much work ahead of us.
The work being done to complete Windward’s threeyear DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) plan is in motion, and we are engaging our entire community—our families, faculty, staff, and board members—to ensure all community members’ voices are heard.
At Windward, we are dedicated to teaching selfawareness while encouraging respect and appreciation for all individuals. By devoting time and resources to this work, we will be able to fully realize the vision and mission of The Windward School. Year 1 DEI Initiatives
• Engage with DEI expert, Dr. Gene
Batiste, for a multiyear consulting commitment to administer listening sessions for families, employees, and board members to gather data on our community’s expectations, hopes, and concerns with regards to Windward’s DEI commitment • Produce a report using qualitative research for the School administration and Board of Trustees, which is essential to drive our work forward • Conduct baseline training for all
Windward employees through four faculty and staff professional development sessions throughout the year (These professional development sessions will become a standard training for all new employees to
Windward moving forward.) • Conduct training for Windward’s
Board of Trustees • Expand recruitment efforts by building relationships with HBCU (Historically
Black Colleges and Universities) employment offices and local university programs in order to further diversify faculty and staff populations • Host DEI coffees, book clubs, guest lecturers, etc. • Initiate partnership and research other organizations that will help to diversify student population • Collect data on identifiers (racial, gender, etc.) of teachers, administrators, staff, and Board of Trustees members in order to set goals and measure progress • Appoint Windward parent/guardian, faculty, and staff members from every campus to a DivE In committee which will be charged with facilitating our threeyear DEI plan. This team of 20 individuals will meet monthly.
A detailed report on Windward’s first year of its DEI plan will be highlighted in The Compass Spring/Summer 2021 issue.
Meet the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Office Leadership Team
Windward’s DEI office is led by Christine Moloney, Coordinator of Diversity. As with every year, Diversity Advisors have been named for each campus.
Danielle Ngo
Diversity Advisor Manhattan Lower School Christine Moloney
Coordinator of Diversity Manhattan Middle School Karen Jimenez
Diversity Advisor Westchester Lower School
202021 Diversity Office Leadership Team
Tanya Ehrlich
Diversity Advisor Westchester Middle School
