Message from the Board Chairs

Messages from the Board Chairs

OUTGOING BOARD CHAIR

As I conclude my eleventh year as a Village School parent, and my seventh year as a Trustee, I am struck with deep feelings of gratitude and the realization that change is good. Without change we don’t experience growth and progress. And while I feel sentimental about leaving a community where my children have been nurtured, encouraged, and supported for more than a decade, I feel privileged to have had a front-row seat to witness the evolution of this amazing school. There’s no question that the leadership team, curriculum, and physical campus look different than the first day I stepped foot on this campus, however, I am deeply grateful and proud that the heart and soul of this community have remained the same.

The 2021-2022 school year has been a year of great change, but also a year of great progress. In his second year as Head of School, John successfully onboarded an incredible slate of new administrators with the addition of Vance Ito, Danny Kramer, Ashley Burkart Mooney, and Valerie Nowacki. Under John’s leadership, the school achieved strong results across all key metrics: admissions, enrollment, secondary school placement, fundraising, faculty retention, and overall financial stability. We have exceeded our goals in all these areas, despite the headwinds we faced from unprecedented external factors, such as the pandemic.

True to form, our faculty continued to lean in and find innovative ways to teach our students while making them feel safe so they could thrive and realize their full potential. Our parents began to reconnect with each other and with our broader community as life started to look more “normal.” And our students continued to exhibit resiliency, confidence, connection, and kindness in this highly dynamic and loving community.

The outlook for Village School is strong and I have great confidence in the partnership between John Evans and new Board Chair, Gina Cotter. John’s passion, creativity, and mission-based leadership will pair beautifully with Gina’s analytical rigor and attention to detail. The composition of the Board of Trustees is stronger than ever, with highly dedicated and engaged individuals who bring a broad array of knowledge and expertise that will help ensure the long-term sustainability of Village School. In other words, Village School is in great hands.

I want to sincerely thank John, Caroline, and the broader Village School administration and staff (past and present) for taking great care of my children and for allowing me to play in your sandbox. The lessons I have learned from this experience are invaluable and I am grateful for the life-long friendships that I found in the process.

With love,

Suzanne Ginestro

Village School Board Chair, 2020–22

INCOMING BOARD CHAIR

It is an exciting time to step in and serve as Village School Board Chair. In nine years as a Village School parent and four years as a Trustee, I have seen Village School evolve, welcoming a new Head of School, weathering a global pandemic, and finishing this past school year in a very strong position. I want to thank the entire administration, faculty, staff, trustees, parents, and students for coming together and contributing to the success of Village School.

A strategic goal of the Board of Trustees is to ensure the financial health of our school and enhance our culture of philanthropy thereby ensuring the long-term sustainability of Village School in perpetuity. Warren Buffet once said, “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” We made strong progress in the last year on our three priorities tied to this goal: financial sustainability, facilities masterplan, and enrollment management. Our Village Fund exceeded our goal and raised over $900K; another exceptional year! Most notably, 100% of our faculty and staff and 93% of our families participated in the Village Fund. In addition, the paddle raise at our Spring Fundraiser raised over $700K, enabling us to accelerate a nineteen classroom complete renovation this summer. We saw one of our strongest admissions and secondary school placements seasons this past year relative to independent schools in the Westside school community. We have much to be proud of.