To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Al f re d, lord T eN NySo N

201 2- 201 3 ANNuAl G ivi NG CAMpAi G N

city of lakes waldorf school

utumn is a time of year when we reflect on the changing season and turn inward to find new strength to meet the world. With the celebration of Michaelmas behind us and Martinmas just ahead, we are reminded of the need to share our own inner light, to bring our ideals into action and to be of service to others. At City of Lakes Waldorf School, we renew our commitment to our school mission and dedicate ourselves to the work of the year ahead. We strive to bring a living educational experience to the children who have been entrusted to us for education, care and growth. Waldorf education strives to ignite the intellect, warm the heart, awaken the body and the senses, and nurture the soul. Each child has the freedom to develop unique capacities and to engage in an education that fosters inner balance, nurtures creativity, awakens intelligence and illuminates the full potential of the human being. In our 24th year, City of Lakes Waldorf School pauses to reflect on the vision of an urban Waldorf school held by our founding mothers and carried forward by the striving and hard work of many individuals. Twelve years ago, we realized our dream of having a permanent home and moved into this beautiful building in the Whittier neighborhood. Since that time, our school has taken root and we, like our neighborhood, have changed and developed in exciting ways. As we further embrace our international neighborhood, we have made strides to develop our world language program. After years of offering first French, and then German and Spanish, we have adopted Chinese as our second language. Our young students are enthusiastically embracing this new learning opportunity. In addition, we are offering a more intensive language experience in grades seven and eight with four Spanish class periods a week. We also have the intention of re-introducing Eurythmy to our students in 2013 and are working towards the development of a full Eurythmy program. Our Board of Trustees has made a strong commitment to improve the total compensation and benefits program for City of Lakes Waldorf School employees. We are excited to offer a retirement benefit and employer match to our staff for the first time. The Board has also begun the implementation of a plan to increase salaries towards market levels.

This year we will also focus on the development of the role of our greatest community partner our schools parent body. Parents continue to play a critical role in the ongoing growth and development of City of Lakes Waldorf School through their generous support and volunteerism on the Board of Trustees, school committees, as class representatives and in myriad of other important volunteer capacities. This year we hired a Community Development Coordinator to focus efforts on parent engagement and volunteerism across the school. We also moved our school store back upstairs to better serve classrooms and our parent community. A comprehensive survey in early 2014 will invite parent input on every aspect of school life and seek to capture how we can best partner with and better serve our parent and student community. We will demonstrate our continued commitment to quality education and school growth through our participation in the accreditation process. We have begun our reaccreditation through the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America and will seek joint accreditation with the Independent School Association of the Central States. Accreditation involves a comprehensive self-study process that relies on broad participation by school personnel, the board of trustees, and all other major constituencies. The principle objectives are to provide a stimulus for school improvement and excellence, help us to assess school strengths and weaknesses, and confirm the validity of our priorities and plans for growth. As we enter the season of giving and thanksgiving, we often pause to experience gratitude for the thriving community that is engaged in our school as faculty, staff, board, parent, alumni, grandparents and friends. We come together in many ways to support the ongoing mission of City of Lakes Waldorf School. As we reflect on our work together, we renew our commitment to our unique mission. We are reminded of why we send our children here because at City of Lakes Waldorf School, students are educated so that they will contribute to the future of the world with clear and creative thinking, compassion, moral strength, and the courage to initiate change in the world - to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield. We invite you to help us reach our Annual Giving Campaigns goal of $150,000 and 100% participation.

 City of Lakes WaLdorf sChooL 2012 aCCompLishments recent notable accomplishments: Graduated our 18th eighth grade class, bringing our total alumni to over 270 Celebrated the retirement of Circus Teachers, Rosie Cole and Lloyd Brant after 18 years of service Conducted a World Language Program review resulting in significant changes to our program, replacing German with Chinese as our second world language for students in Grades 1 6 and offering four classes a week of Spanish in Grades 7 and 8 Launched a five day a week student lunch program with neighborhood partners, The Wedge Co-op and A Slice of New York Reviewed health care options and made Continued implementation of a commitment to raise compensation to 95% of market for CLWS teachers and 90% of market for administrative staff Continued to improve our schoolwide organics recycling program via grant funding from Hennepin Countys Waste Abatement Incentive Program Enhanced outreach efforts to strengthen community connections and increase enrollment Reached full Kindergarten enrollment in the fall of 2012

For one of the things most centrally needed is clarity on the path of inner striving, a clarity of inner striving comparable to the clarity of external striving. Not vague mysticism, but brightest clarity.
ru d o lf STe iN e r

choices to improve coverage for staff and reduce costs to the school Added a 401k staff retirement benefit with an employer match

hen you Contribute to the annuaL GivinG CampaiGn W this year, your Gift WiLL support: Your childs classroom teacher, subject teachers, and support staff . . . . . . . . .67% Our historic building, its maintenance and daily operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23% Your childs classroom and related classroom expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5% Other operational expenses* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5%
* staff and institutional development, dues and related expenses to membership with the Association of
Waldorf Schools of North America, office expenses, and professional fees for our annual financial audit

Why the annuaL GivinG CampaiGn? Our Annual Giving Campaign supports 7 .5% of our schools budget . By comparison, our school store and all fundraising event revenues combined account for 2 .5% of our budget . From the standpoint of the ambitious goal and potential for broad participation, the Annual Giving Campaign is our most important appeal for financial support . The Annual Giving Campaign fills

pat h o f fre edo m When, in the bright circles of the spirit, The soul calls forth Pure energy of thinking, It lays hold on knowledge of what freedom is. When, entering fully in life, Free, conscious man Shapes reality from willing, Then freedom is made living fact.
r u d ol f ST e iN e r

the gap between what is charged in tuition and the actual cost of providing a Waldorf education to every student . Without these funds, we would have to charge at least $1,200 more per student in tuition . This would make us less competitive with other local independent schools, and would mean that many families would be excluded . We rely on these tax-deductible gifts to bridge the gap and meet our operating needs each year . Annual gifts help to provide the highest quality education possible and keep tuition affordable so that more students can benefit from a Waldorf education . Last year, current City of Lakes Waldorf School parents achieved 83% participation in the campaign . This year we would like to achieve 100% participation! The amount of each gift isnt nearly as important as participation at any level . Some give $5, others give $25,000 . We ask you to give a gift that is significant and meaningful to you and your family . Your full participation demonstrates our communitys commitment to our schools mission and encourages other funders to support us as well . Many families give to the Annual Giving Campaign with an ongoing, monthly gift . We ask that you contribute similarly or with a one-time gift this season . Please support Waldorf education with a contribution to this years Annual Giving Campaign!