Wheeler Impact Report 2023-2024 by The Wheeler School

2023-24 Wheeler Board of Trustees

Alisia St. Florian ’86 Chair

Daniel Becker P’25 Vice Chair

Katie Goodfellow P’25 Secretary

Constance A. Howes P’01, P’04 Treasurer

Sean Adu-Gyamfi ’08

Asheesh Advani P’23, P’23

Valerie Allen P’23, P’27, P’29

Greg Altman P’26

Kathleen Carney-Godley P’09, P’12, P’16

John Clarke ’06 President, Wheeler Alumni Board

Matt Coen ’88

Matthew Finkelstein P’26, P’28

Rob Glancy ’01

Sergio Gonzalez P’26

Kate Edwards Paglia ’97

Shankar Prasad P’32, P’36

William C. Prescott, Jr. P’85, P’91, P’96 Head Emeritus

Paige Roberts P’29, P’31 President, Wheeler School Parents Association

Stephen Rosa P’18, P’24, P’24

Russell Shippee GP’26, GP’33

Sandra Smith P’23, P’25

Mete Tunca P’25, P’30, P’33

Eve Veliz-Moran P’34, P’34

Vanessa Ward Krex P’22, P’24

What does it mean to make a difference at Wheeler?

It’s a question with as many answers as there are people in our community, as you’ll see in this issue of our annual Impact Report. While the charts and numbers serve as helpful data points on the page, it’s the stories behind them–revealing the numerous reasons for why we give to Wheeler–that are the true difference-makers. It’s inspired teaching that can take you around the world, daily campus conversations that spark a student’s confidence and curiosity, or the care and kindness of peers that remain with you long after graduation. No matter our reasons, they all lead back to our connections with one another. At Wheeler, we are a community of givers who are dedicated to making a difference, in so many ways. Thank you for being part of it.

Allison Gaines Pell Head of School

Alisia St. Florian ’86 Chair, Board of Trustees

alumni currently in college who are on track to become the first in their families to earn a fouryear degree in the U.S.

Island Youth Poetry Ambassadors 400 students from 38 schools attended the AISNE High School Students of Color Conference hosted by Wheeler 26 Scholastic Art & Writing Regional Awardees 3 Global Experience trips to Spain, Iceland, and Zion National Park 336 AP exams taken (78% received a score of 4 or 5) 35 years since the founding of the Hamilton School at Wheeler 1(st place) Rhode Island Envirothon NEPSAC Class C Large Boys Basketball Robotics Independent School Golf Championship Mock Trial McCoy Cup (Girls Lacrosse) Middle School MATHCOUNTS EIL Boys Swimming Upper School Math Team

…and more!

Upper School students in

Image of mission (student art)

Art Teacher Kristin Murphy’s Studio Art 3 class created their vision of Wheeler’s mission statement. This piece is by Evelyn Zhang ’25.

Our donors are:

Students and others

Alumni

$5,066,697

Grandparents

Parents of alumni

Faculty/ staff

Current parents

I was drawn to Wheeler because it aligns with my belief in the holistic development of each of my students. I am grateful to the donors whose generosity ensures that Wheeler can create an environment where all students are nurtured and empowered to reach their full potential.”

Horita

Graham, Upper School Academic Support Teacher

Their gifts will be used:

In perpetuity (endowment gifts) Immediately (the Wheeler Fund and Senior Family Gift)

The Wheeler Fund

Wheeler’s Day of Giving

Officially into its second decade, this community-wide event broke records once again. Friendly competition was on full display as Team Purple and Team Gold vied for the top spot on the donor leaderboard (and for their spirit color flag to fly over Hope Street!).

234 alumni donors (led by the Class of

$40,000

by Team Purple $295K raised for the Wheeler Fund! a record

Mary C. Wheeler Legacy Society

Leadership

The Founder’s Society recognizes those who make leadership gifts totalling $2,000+ in a single year.

“The holistic education that Wheeler provides takes a lot of resources! Yes, tuition is a big part of that, but we see that Wheeler goes above and beyond: in all its programming, in its commitment to diversity, and in the talent it attracts to teach here. The Wheeler community has become such a big part of our lives, and our family has benefitted from it so much, that we want to do our part to continue the legacy of excellence that brought us to Wheeler.”

Eve Veliz-Moran P’34, P’34

Loyalty

The 1889 Society recognizes those who have made gifts to Wheeler for 3+ years in a row.

“Though our boys graduated in 2010 and 2011, our gratitude for Wheeler’s influence on our family has not diminished. Throughout our 25 years of giving, we have been inspired to bring this opportunity to other families so that they may benefit similarly. Together we help to preserve the strength of Wheeler as an institution, one student and one family at a time.”

Brock and Jamie Manville P’10, P’11

Legacy

The Mary C. Wheeler Legacy Society recognizes those who show their love for Wheeler with a gift in their wills or estate plans.

“Though eight years might seem brief, my time at The Wheeler School was both enjoyable and formative. I valued the school’s balance of strong academics, arts, and sports. Spontaneous dancing in the courtyard and the lasting friendships I made were also a significant part of my experience. I’ve chosen to include Wheeler in my will as a way to express my gratitude for those special years.”

Polly Carpenter ’73

Giving to a Global Experience

As 6th-Grade Global Studies Teacher

Dana Tatlock explains, Middle School is a fantastic time in a student’s life to teach them about international issues.

“Sixth-graders are at this point where the world is opening up to them, and they’re able to see the bigger picture,” she says. “Some of my goals in class are to have them think about the questions: How can we be global citizens? How are we connected to other people in the world? How are we connected to issues in the world? How can we make an impact?”

Thanks to generous support from the Wheeler Fund, Ms. Tatlock got to travel to the Nobel Prize Teacher Summit last fall to hear directly from some of the distinguished visionaries and activists who engage with questions and issues like those she encourages her students to grapple with in class. Each year, the conference invites a select number of teachers from around the world to Stockholm, Sweden–where the

prizes are awarded–to meet with Nobel Laureates and discuss a theme of great importance in education.

“It was a truly global experience,” Ms. Tatlock says. “I made close connections with teachers from Ethiopia, the Philippines, Uganda, Sweden, and Ukraine. Part of what’s special about the Nobel Prize is its international reach, and this bringing together of teachers was really quite cool and inspirational.

“I’m really grateful that Wheeler helps provide for opportunities like the Nobel Prize Teacher Summit,” she continues.

“The

importance of professional development support, especially at this level, is worth sharing. It’s huge.”

Donor-Funded Scholarship

Nurturing More Malone Scholars

Since 2011, Wheeler has been one of a select number of independent schools nationwide–and the only school in Rhode Island–to be part of the Malone Scholars Program network, which perpetually funds scholarships for students in grades 7-12 based on their merit and financial need. The program’s 50 partner schools were each chosen based on their academic caliber; the quality of their faculty and staff; attention to individual students’ needs, interests, and talents; financial strength and stability; a commitment to financial aid; and an economically, culturally, ethnically, and socially diverse population.

The Malone Family Foundation provided Wheeler with an initial gift of $2 million, and in response to the school’s successful stewardship of the program since then, decided last year to increase that endowment by an additional $500,000. “Our ultimate goal, as you know, is to provide a challenging education to highly capable young students who display the keen desire and motivation to learn, but lack the resources to finance such an education,” foundation representatives wrote in their letter to Wheeler. “To that end, we wish to continue partnering with you in this journey, entrusting you with the mission of selecting those students…and then nurturing them to the best of your (and their) ability.”

Nearly 4 out of every 10 students would not be at Wheeler without financial support

With the assistance of the Malone Family Foundation, Wheeler will be able to continue offering such transformational opportunities to even more scholars in the future.

A Caring Community (and Contribution)

“One very important thing about Wheeler is its sense of community that lasts over time,” says Casey Blachard ’71. In her case, Casey rediscovered that sense of community more than 50 years after leaving Wheeler, when she was hiking in the Vermont mountains and happened to pass by one of her classmates, Mary Pierce ’71. That chance encounter–along with Ms. Pierce’s encouragement–inspired her to attend her 50th reunion later that year.

“What I found at the reunion was revelatory,” she shares. “It was pretty amazing to see what was the same at Wheeler and what was different. I was really impressed with the school’s ability to adapt and to pay attention to what’s needed to prepare kids to successfully grow up.”

Casey remained curious about Wheeler after the reunion was over, so she came back a few months later for a more in-depth school tour, where she was able to meet with teachers, students, staff, and administrators. “There were so many changes, so many more options for students, and yet the community vibe was still there,” she reflects, adding that she could see how the community had responded to cultural changes and demands with insight and great care. “When I met with Head of School Allison Gaines Pell at the end of the day, it was the ‘faith in the future’ moment when I realized what a substantial and enlightened leader Wheeler had.”

That’s when, after 50 years away from Wheeler, she began to wonder how she could contribute to the school today–and tomorrow. One of her areas of focus was technology, specifically the impact of social media and AI on young people’s well-being.

“Wheeler has already done so much to address these concerns, and yet, it seems that today’s complex demands for student well-being have expanded dramatically and were exacerbated by the pandemic,” she says. “In response to that need, I decided to make a significant donation to the Health and Wellness Program at Wheeler, where my funds can be put to knowledgeable use and support students in navigating the present and the unknowns of the future.”

Casey (pictured right) with Wheeler classmate Judith Salomon ’71

The Future of the Farm

Despite overcast skies (and periodic downpours) on June 6, representatives from across the Wheeler community joyfully broke ground on the first phase of our multi-year plan for the farm campus.

Over the next several years, we plan to build several new structures at the farm that are organically situated across the property, connected by natural paths and trails, and integrated with the topography of the environmental landscape. A new minicampus for The Nest, our nature-based early education center, and an all-season eight-lane competition pool will be the first projects completed in the summer of 2025. These exciting developments build on Wheeler’s long-standing commitment to inquiry and place-based learning.

The Wheeler Farm represents balance for our children. It acts as a complement to their daily urban academic experience and a much-needed contrast to the fast-paced, technology-heavy world we are living in.”

Katie Keeffe P’31, P’32

To me the Wheeler Farm means creativity, collaboration, and community. When I think about the future of the farm, I am excited about having more time out of the city, and more opportunities for freedom and adventure.”

Peppin Benzak ’30

The farm is a magical place where students make choices, navigate risk, and work and play together in the beautiful outdoors.”

Sam Abeshouse, Director of the 6th-Grade Farm Program

In 2023-24, Wheeler donors contributed $1,926,076 to accelerate the completion of the

projects at the farm

“I wanted to show that somebody new to the community could take on a leadership role and help a project get over the finish line,” says John Knight, the father of Nora ’24. “The last three years at Wheeler were about finding a community where our child could thrive, and we absolutely found that. So we wanted people to see that if the community is what you hoped it would be, it’s important to step up and try to make it even better.”

In this case, it was the outdoor seating area in Miller Quad that got even better, thanks to the collective generosity of the Class of 2024 and their families. It has quickly become one of the most popular hangouts on our Providence campus, especially on a sunny day. The beautiful–and busy–new space was made possible through the Senior Family Gift

campaign, which Mr. Knight and his spouse, Martha Wofford, chaired along with Lisa and Jason Martiesian, the parents of Sadie ’24.

Over the decade that her daughter was a student at Wheeler, Lisa Martiesian stepped up at school in various ways. “I was the president of the family association at one time, along with many other volunteer roles, because Wheeler

was a great place for our child and for other students,” she says. “It was great for our family, too. We met some wonderful friends here, and when we were asked to help lead the gift campaign, we thought it would be a nice way to cap off our family’s long experience at Wheeler. Having this new outdoor space as a result is fabulous. It adds so much aesthetically and is a wonderful space to be together.”

The last three years at Wheeler were about finding a community where our child could thrive, and we absolutely found that.”

John Knight P’24

“This project is special because of the interactions and little conversations that will naturally occur here over and over again,” Mr. Knight adds. “Those sorts of interactions were pivotal to our daughter’s confidence, and therefore her success. I’m thrilled to have led the support of this space that is going to do the same thing for other students, and to have led the campaign with the Martiesians was incredible and important. Our partnership is proof that Wheeler works for a lot of different families who may have different levels of involvement and commitment over the years, however long that might be.”

Jason, Lisa, and Sadie ’24 (left) alongside Nora ’24, Martha, and John at Commencement

438 college acceptances from 161 schools 10 National Merit semifinalists

1 Gates Scholar 12 Presidential Scholar candidates

7 athletes signed to D1 and D3 schools

We bring you together at Wheeler from so many walks of life because we know that school is a place where you learn to gather with intention. Gathering is an act of being together, hearing and knowing one another in all of our ways, and it isn’t always easy. It requires care, humility, uneasiness, sometimes true discomfort or even pain, and curiosity. Being together requires acknowledging that inside of each of us exists all the multitudes — being kind, mean, joyful, worried, exceptional, ordinary, wise, or much less so…As you go, my wish for you is that you are as caring and thoughtful as we have tried to teach and inspire you to be, that you keep that soft heart about you, use it often, and share it with others. The world will be better for it. Thank you for sharing it with us.”

Allison Gaines Pell Commencement address to the Class of 2024

Wheeler’s Endowment

General financial aid

$63.1M

Total endowment as of 6.30.24

$2,535

Endowment income per student in 2023-24

Endowment Gifts in Action

Wheeler’s 82 distinct endowed funds support specific priorities established by their donors. These gifts fortify the school’s future by growing with the market.

Each year a small portion of the fund is distributed to the operating budget, and the rest is reinvested to continue to grow.