October 18, 2019
Dear Da Vinci Waldorf School Community,
Thank you to those able to join us for our All-School Community Conversation on Wednesday evening. We had a wonderful group and and an even more wonderful conversation. For those unable to join us, I want to provide a few notes and images from the evening to ensure we keep everyone informed and warmly invited to ask questions and participate in the future.
More detailed information about a few of the upcoming projects, activities and events will be sent out and posted as they become finalized and developed. We are excited about the additional dates we are adding to the calendar which will be available on a new "At-A-Glance" calendar to be distributed soon.
Thank you to Sarah DuRocher for leading us in song! We were quite a harmonious group.
Bill Jones opened with warm welcome and reflection back to the community out of the surveys completed by the community last year.
Our adoption of an Idling Policy was addressed by Sarah DuRocher. In summary, we ask that idling be kept to a minimum in the school parking lot. If you arrive early to pick up your child(ren), please turn off your engine if you will be waiting for more than a few minutes. Of course, always be sure to maintain a safe temperature for young children. We will not police this policy, but we thank everyone for doing their part to help keep our air clean.
Elizabeth English presented the survey results of our Before Care Program. The discussion led us to the conclusion that there is reasonable support for a more fully-developed program. We will be working on those details and send them out asap.
Elizabeth also provided a picture of our governance structure which is collaborative in nature. Though at first it may feel difficult to enter into, we believe it represents a more organic and human-centered way of organizing our work as a community. The Da Vinci 
Waldorf School Governance Model along with the Community Spheres and Leadership was shared to provide a bit of a road map. Please stop in and ask if you have any questions.
The Community Spheres and Leadership chart includes a number of openings for members of our community to join our collaboration. The Board of Trustees is in the process of identifying the next Treasurer. If you are interested, please reach out to Joe Anderson, 
President (joe.anderson28641@gmail.com) or me at (mfieber@davinciwaldorf.org.)
Other opportunities include participation on, and leadership of the galvanizing Development Committee. Again, check in with me to explore this possibility.
Next we moved to a presentation of the approved budget for 2019-2020 from Anita Zagraniczny. See the attached photo of the pie charts which supported her presentation and opened up a good conversation. We will continue to make transparent the flow of resources through our school and we invite your questions if you have them.
An important element revealed in our budget story is the role fundraising and development play in ensuring we remain fiscally solid. Currently, non-tuition revenues represent only 7% of our anticipated income within the approved budget. A greater slice of the pie would be beneficial to the many projects and plans for continuing to develop our school—whether program, facility or human. Matt Myren gave a brief overview of the status of our Strategic Plan and an invitation to join him in assessing our next steps and goals.
We heard from a few champions of current fundraising efforts: Kristin Floress for the SCRIP program, Kristine Fiskum for the Giving Circle, and Caroline Setoodeh for the Auction, Raffle and Box Tops for Education. More information will be coming out on these programs in the near future. Grant Fetter opened up a conversation through his personal experience as he began to engage in fundraising efforts. There were tips shared for selling raffle tickets, imagining other fundraising ideas and Grant Fetter and Bill Jones will be happy to help work through ideas and bring them forward if you have them for ways to attract money to our school.
There is so much we can share with one another. Parents can help school personnel become aware of issues that need addressing as well as opportunities to spread the news about our school. Again, I wish to express my thanks for your participation and as there was a desire to meet again on a quarterly rhythm. We’ll find some dates and send them out. If there are specific topics you are interested in discussing, let me know. I’d love to help bring important topics into the community circle.
A special thank you to those who helped with snacks and refreshments. Thank you as well to our alumni childcare providers: Nila S., Kaylin S., and Grace A.
Looking forward to our work together!
Marianne Fieber,
Administrator
Da Vinci Waldorf School
Dates to Note—more details to follow
- November 17: Pancake Breakfast
- November 18-22: Raffle Ticket pick up
- December 3: Giving Circle Kick-off
- December 7: Kindermarket
- January 12: Pancake Breakfast
- February 1 or 8: Giving Circle Event
- March 15: Pancake Breakfast
- April 4: Spring Trivia, Auction and Chili Cook-off
- May 29: Waldorf 100 and Alumni Celebration
