WCDS annual report2014-2015 revised

Established 1929

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Wheeling Country Day SchoolAnnual Report

2014 - 2015

Wheeling Country Day School

MissionWCDS empowers students to think, to create, and to communicate in a nurturing environment where learning and character are paramount.

Philosophy Wheeling Country Day School’s purpose is to nurture the intellectual, creative, and ethical growth of children from diverse backgrounds. A balanced program of academic basics, fine arts, physical development, and critical thinking develops and enhances students’ individual and cooperative abilities. In a positive environment children learn to be self-reliant, self-motivated and resourceful learners. A supportive faculty challenges students to learn independently and within a group, with and without direct instruction, and the faculty rewards the students’ best efforts, ambition and accomplishments. A wide variety of activities beyond the classroom enriches learning opportunities. Personalized instruction using various methods and materials contributes to the total experience.

MembershipsWheeling Country Day School is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).

AccreditationWheeling Country Day School is fully accredited by the Independent School’s Association of the Central States (ISACS).

Quick Facts

Contents

School Founded:July 15, 1929

EnrollmentDuring the 2014-2015 academic

year, 176 students were enrolled

in Junior Kindergarten 3 through

5th grade and 40 families

participated in the “We Two

Program.” This represents a 74%

increase over the last six years. The

average student/teacher ratio was

7:1.

1 Letter from Liz and Jon2 Annual Fund, Revenue & Expenses3 Klingenstein Fellowship4 A Visit With Theresa Knowcheck 5 Annual Fund Contributors

10 Remembering Josiah Titus-Glover14 Creative Child Challenge15 WCDS Creative Outlets16 Alumni Spotlight17 Ways to Give


Dear Friends,In a time when so much attention is paid to educational outcomes – test scores,grades, college acceptances, class rank, starting sports positions – we are proud that Wheeling Country Day School remains focused on learning. Indeed, the tenor of learning permeates every experience for children and adults at WCDS.

The ISACS accreditation team recognized this when visiting our campus in the fall of 2014. They commended WCDS for its: • Incredible success in creating a vibrant school where learning is paramount and children feel free to be themselves. • Innovative and challenging curriculum with an emphasis on resiliency in the face of failure. • Amazing school community where students, teachers, staff and parents demonstrate their “can-do” attitude in support of one another and the shared mission at WCDS. • Board of Trustee’s faith in the school and their willingness to work strategically and purposefully to advance the institution and to position the school for a promising future. • Intimate campus with thoughtfully-designed classrooms, which provide for authentic learning.

Such praise is feasible because teachers and leadership alike passionately believe in what we do - inspiring children to learn in the hopes they will someday inspire others.

Our success rests on the support we receive from WCDS families and friends. Until you can find yourself on campus again, please allow this report to provide you a glimpse of what you have made possible. Thank you for your support and your trust.

Thanks,

Elizabeth Hofreuter-LandiniHead of School

Jonathan BedwayPresident of the Board

Board of Trustees2014-2015

Jonathan Bedway President

Charles Spadafore Vice President

Joyce JeffersonSecretary

Paula McClureTreasurer

Judy Harris

William Nutting

Denise Penz

James G. Squibb, Jr.

Teresa Toriseva

Michael Wayt

ex officioElizabeth Hofreuter-Landini

Pat Felton, CPAJulie Selmon, PFA

Connect with Liz:Follow her blog on the WCDS website

and on Twitter @lhlandini


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1.0%9.5%

15.0%

1.0%

10.0% 63.5%

Tuition

Program Revenue

Board Fundraisers

Annual Giving (Unrestricted)

Annual Giving (Restricted)

Endowment Income

2.7%6.0%2.0%

12.0%

2.3%

75.0%

Personnel

Instructional Supplies

Administrative Costs

Mortgage & Financing

Facility Costs

Capital Improvements, Technology & Classroom Furniture

1.0%9.5%

1.0%

10.0% 63.5%

Operating Revenue & ExpensesFiscal Year 2014-2015

Annual Fund Snapshot

Out of the $347,993 raised for the Annual Fund, $137,152 was Restricted

and $91,630 was Unrestricted and $119,211 was Designated.

100%Faculty

Participation

100%Board

Participation

ExpensesRevenue

Thank you for your contributionWheeling Country Day School relies on the generosity

of parents, alumni, friends, corporations, and foundations to make a difference in children’s lives. Gifts to the annual

fund can be made by check, cash, transfer of stock, or online through our secure Giving page.

2.3%

12.0%

75.0%

2.7%

2

6.0%2.0%

15.0%


In February of 2015, Liz was awarded the Klingenstein Heads of Schools Fellowship. Alongside 18 other heads of independent schools from all over the world, she spent two full weeks at Columbia Teachers College focusing on three subjects: moral leadership, research on problems of practice and 21st century education. During the fellowship, she co-wrote “Learning Sciences in Schools,” featured in the fellowships’ joint paper, “21st Century Education.”

Choosing Parent Education as her focus, Liz concluded, “Parent education begins in the school’s culture, where teachers engage students at every opportunity including homework, which turns out is one of the important ways schools ‘communicate’ values with parents. A parent’s understanding of a child’s education also lies in the parent’s attitude toward their memories of school. ”Learning is tied to a parent’s attitude about school. If we say, ‘I’m not a math person,’ we affect our child’s attitude toward math and his ultimate mastery of it.”

The Teachers College at Columbia University grants the fellowship to no more than 20 heads peryear. The academic program offers heads the time and resources for true renewal and reflectionabout their passion and their work in the company of equally committed peers.

* Photo courtesy of Teachers College Columbia University

[ Klingenstein Fellowship ]

“Learning is tied to a parent’s attitude about school. If we say, ‘I’m not a math

person,’ we affect our child’s attitude toward math and his ultimate

mastery of it.”

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A Visit With Theresa Kowcheck

The Learning Center at WCDS works with students who have

language-based learning differences through intensive

instruction based on Orton-Gillingham methodology.

Here we sat down with Director of The Learning Center, Theresa Kowcheck, to give you

a deeper look.

How did the idea for The Learning Center come about?It all started with students who had characteristics of dyslexia and couldn’t find help. Legislation torecognize dyslexia as a reading disorder is still pending, so solutions in the Ohio Valley for these students were slim to none. We piloted The Learning Center to bring in the Orton-Gillingham Methodology to work with our students with language-based learning differences. The next step was to build a team of OG certified teachers. Currently, we have five trained instructors on campus and several West Liberty University graduate students completing Reading Specialist practicum work through our Learning Center.

Why is this program important for the Ohio Valley?For starters, dyslexia accreditation is becoming a requirement for teachers in Ohio and Pennsylvania.However, in West Virginia, even awareness for dyslexia is very slim. The WCDS Learning Center isimportant for students in the valley because it is the first of its kind and one of the only resourcesspecifically for students with dyslexia and language-based learning differences. The success of our program is due to the diagnostic and prescriptive intervention with each child and the self-confidence in lifelong reading that it builds.

What is the future of The Learning Center?We want to expand our program to continue to serve students throughout the Ohio Valley. We have seen the demand and believe, with the support of our community, this is a true possibility for the future.

The provided remediation by the WCDS Learning Center is helping students overcome theirweaknesses and harness their strengths by giving them the strategies to appreciate their uniquetalents. For inquiries or to schedule a visit to The Learning Center, email Theresa Kowcheck [email protected] or call our office today at (304) 232-2430.

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Making Time for Childrenpage 8

“What stands out the most about WCDS

students is that they believe in themselves, a

quality that can come not only from a program that

pushes them but in an environment that instills

a belief that they can achieve anything.”

-WCDS Parent


Funded in part by The Hess FamilyFoundation and the Nutting Foundation,WCDS and the West Liberty UniversityDepartment of Education piloted a projectto address the synergy between creativethinking and mindfulness and its effects onstudent development.

Fifth grade teachers, Bridget Rutherford,Luke Hladek, Joe Jividen and IJ Kalcum,crafted the following projects to equipstudents with the tools for creative anddivergent thinking while building personalresilience.

Jojo1 Weather Balloon - Learning along side his students, Mr. Haldek encouraged ten-year-olds toresearch, build, test and launch a weather balloon. While travelling 239 miles and ascending 88,000feet, the Jojo1 (named for their classmate who died) captured video of the curvature of the earthsurface as well as the moment of the balloon’s rupture – a learning opportunity that far exceedsanswering the questions in a textbook.

Water Wheel – The WCDS Water Wheel Project was conceived with the emphasis of usingcreativity and ingenuity to enhance both environmental awareness and progression of the GreenSchools initiative on campus. Fifth grade students identified a problem, researched potentialsolutions and ultimately chose an environmentally responsible design to light the entrance pillarsusing advanced technology with a 3D printed water wheel.

World Peace Games – Fourth and fifth grade students were immersed in a hands-on politicalgame, which required them to extricate their “countries” from dangerous situations, solve worldissues all while achieving global prosperity. Intermingled with philosophical issues from Sun Tzu’sThe Art of War, the games encourage players to live and work comfortably with the unknown, whilestimulating empathy and compassion.

One of the next steps is to document our work on these projects to replicate our successes at otherschools by presenting at conferences and directly sharing curriculum.

[ Creative Child Challenge ]

Students participating in the 2015 World Peace Games

“Equip students with the tools for creative and divergent thinking while building personal resilience.”

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Building on the success of the Creative ChildChallenge, WCDS will be developing additionaloutlets to develop a child’s creative thinking. • Using the design process with students and teachers alike to create a nature/exercise trail in the field across the creek • Implementing an introductory band program to encourage all students to play an instrument • Introducing students to music composition and video production • Encouraging coding and robotics activities as early as preschool • Creating a Maker’s Space to offer students the opportunity to sew, weave, build, woodwork, design and more. Students, alumni and families will be encouraged to make time to create.

Restricted contributions and in-kind donations to these initiatives are greatly appreciated. For more information, please contact Liz Hofreuter-Landini via email [email protected] or phone 304-232-2430.

Bring Creativity to Life

What You Missed On Social Media

Stay Connected to us by…Liking us on FacebookFollowing us on Twitter

Following our pageon LinkedIn!

We joined !

Nicole Allen on Google+

This picture postedto our Facebookpage of the JK3

silhouettes received126 likes

and 15 comments!

“I was fortunate to attend thisschool for four years inelementary and had teachers that made a major lifelong impact. It is a nurturing school with small classes and lots of personalized attention. Fantastic all around--made me excited about learning for the rest of my years.”

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Alumni Spotlight

Michelle Sommer ‘82“A Wheeling Country Day School education changed the course of my life and firmly set me on my path to a bright future. WCDS teachers strived to gain a deeper understanding of me as an individual learner and nurtured and supported me in discovering my unique strengths. I graduated from WCDS with the knowledge that I had valuable skills that would sustain and buoy me and that I could go on to share with others. My life-long passions, I first discovered at WCDS. Today I am an award-winning art teacher of an award-winning art program. Like my teachers did for me, I endeavor to make all my students feel safe, included, capable, and valued. Today I carry on the WCDS tradition of discovering how children learn and recognizing, defending, and nurturing their unique abilities.”

Michele Sommer is an art educator and Art Department Chair at Rockland Country Day School in Congers, NY. She holds a Master of Science in Education degree in Leadership in the Arts from Bank Street College of Education in New York, NY. She has served on reaccreditation committees for New York State Association of Independent Schools and was the recipient of the 2007 and 2013 Hancock-Rubinsky Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 2007 County Executives Award for Arts Education. Her writing on art education was published in the Harvard Educational Review and featured in The Marshall Memo. She served on the 2013 panel discussion “Expanding Our Vision for the Arts” at Harvard University campus.

* Photos courtesy of highlighted alums

Del Walters ’70“If you don’t know where you’re from, you don’t know where you’re going. I would be hard-pressed to say I would be where I am today without Wheeling Country Day School. To those who engineered the social experiment of integrating that school, I say, Thank You.”*

Del Walters is an award-winning global news journalist. He spent over 20 years as an investigative reporter for WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., winning more than 20 Emmy Awards, including one for “Best Anchor.” In 2006, he founded his own production company, 3PE Productions, producing the critically acclaimed film “Apocalypse Africa, Made in America.” He received the Edward Murrow Award for an hour-long feature he did on Haiti while serving as news anchor for D.C.’s top radio news station, WTOP Radio-CBS. An award-winning documentary film producer, political columnist, and broadcaster, Walters has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, been a commentator on the Chris Matthews show, and Unsolved Mysteries to name a few. * Quote taken from an interview in the Wheeling Sunday News Register

Reconnect with the Blue & GoldThere are many ways to rediscover your WCDS roots: become an ambassador, stop by for a visit

and tour, share your experiences, join us at one of our Alumni Events and sign up to receive updates and news. For more information about how you can get connected, email Becca Wilson at [email protected]. To update your information, fill out the Stay In Touch form on our website.

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Ways to Give

Annual FundGifts to the Annual Fund help supportthe many expenses associated withproviding the high-quality, personalizedacademic experience offered atWheeling Country Day School. Yourtax-deductible, charitable contributionto WCDS addresses institutionalpriorities such as technology, capitalimprovements and maintenance,professional development andcompensation for teachers, curriculummaterials, program development, andtuition assistance.

Tribute GiftsGifts made “In Memory” or “In Honor Of” alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students are anexcellent way to commemorate an individual’s connection to the school while investing in theinstitution that has meant so much to them.

Corporate Matching Gifts ProgramMany companies match employee (or an employee’s spouse) contributions to non-profitorganizations like WCDS. Please check with your employer’s human resources office to learnwhether your company offers a program like this that may potentially double the size of yourdonation to WCDS.

Planned GiftsPlanned Gifts are a wonderful way to help ensure the future of WCDS. The most common andsimplest planned giving method is in the form of a bequest naming Wheeling Country Day Schoolas a beneficiary of a specific dollar amount or percentage of your estate. Contributions through life income vehicles such as a charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, and charitable leadtrusts can provide income to you or a loved one while offering tax-advantages.

Donors may also designate Wheeling Country Day School as a beneficiary of life insurance orretirement assets. Please consult your attorney or financial advisor to discuss which charitable givingoption is best for you.

Secure Online DonationsMake online donations with your credit card using our secure payment form by visiting http://www.wcdsedu.com/giving/online-donations/.

For more information or to discuss giving opportunities available through WCDS, pleasecontact Liz Hofreuter-Landini, Head of School, at (304) 232-2430.

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Wheeling Country Day SchoolEight Park RoadWheeling, West Virginia304-232-2430wcdsedu.com

We are extremely thankful for the families,faculty, alumni and friends who support our

mission and make it possible for us to dowhat we love.

Elizabeth Hofreuter-Landini

Connect With Us On Social Media

* Photos courtesy of Rebecca Kiger Fotografia

WCDS annual report2014-2015 revised

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Transcript of WCDS annual report2014-2015 revised