From the Director of Advancement…
At the beginning of the year, I wrote an article
explaining the concept of the new Advancement Office. We are
3 people, Lori Regis - Director of Advancement, Gail Wise
- Administrative Advancement Assistant, and
Amy Ford - Special Events Coordinator. Our goal is to not
only "advance" the school in enrollment and gifted
funds, it is also to communicate to our families, new, old
and potential, what we are all about. I think it is safe to
say that we have had a successful first year as the "Advancement
Office"!
School began with 679 students - 166 of them were
new. Since then we have had 15 more new students to start
and we have mailed out TRA information packets to 223 inquiring
families. We are touring these potential families on a regular
basis, and in the midst of our messy construction and all
of our apologizing for the "vision" they have to
possess to even understand what it will be like next year
- they get it. More than one family has commented that it
just "feels right". Some leave here hugging every
one of us on their way out the door. One new mother actually
had us in tears explaining that her mom, who had recently
passed away, must have led them straight here. And they are
correct, it just feels right. We are blessed and we have always
known that, sometimes it's just easy to forget.
February has been a big month for the Advancement
office with 2 testing dates for our potential students and
our newly implemented administrative interview nights. We
realized that once school starts in the fall, things move
so quickly, and while each new family has been properly introduced
and informed, they really have not had any personal
time with their principal to share needs and expectations.
We have created this opportunity for them before their contract
is due, and while 20-30 minutes is still not enough time,
our new families have appreciated the genuine interest that
our principals have taken in their child's experience. During
the 08-09 enrollment process so far, we have tested 96 new
students and interviewed 57 new families.
Because we are in the construction process, instead
of an on campus Open House, we are hosting 5 satellite "Meet
and Greet" functions in our neighboring communities to
spread the word about TRA. Please pass along the post cards
that were sent home with your child or have your friends check
the website for more information. Prizes are involved!
Finally, our Continuing the Tradition Capital Campaign
is coming to a close. Obviously, the billing and pledge commitments
will continue for three to five years, and it is NEVER too
late to give; however, our family solicitation phase is through.
Thank you again to those supporter's who have helped us turn
a vision into a reality. I truly think that we left no stone
unturned and while perfection is nearly impossible, we definitely
went all-out to do it right. To date, the following numbers
are correct:
Total number of donors - 224
55 Grandparents - $133,325.00
62 Board Members/Faculty/Staff - $169,033.30
107 TRA Family/Friends- $428,997.40
Of the above gifts, 39 are from TRA alumni and total
$235,090
Total amount of campaign dollars pledged to date
$731, 355.70
Please watch for upcoming special events regarding
our new buildings. We love to gather our families, we love
to celebrate, and we love to tell about what's happening at
TRA!
|
