Annual Report to Newtown Meeting
November 1, 2009
Newtown Friends School provides an
education full of academic challenge, where students are encouraged to engage
in the learning process and to think creatively and independently. We are a
community rooted in Quaker values, where respect is taught in principle and
exemplified in practice. With this balanced foundation, students become
confident individuals who think for themselves while caring for each other and
the world around them.
- Mission Statement
Like individuals and many institutions, Newtown Friends is
not immune to the current state of the economy.
We opened this September with an enrollment of 306 students, a number
below the 315 we projected. This is
comparable to what other independent elementary schools in the Philadelphia
area are experiencing. Overall, the
school is doing well; otherwise, this drop could have been significantly
higher. As you will see in the attached
admissions report, the most frequent reason given for attrition was financial
and this is an increase over previous years. A positive admissions statistic is the
continued increase in Quaker enrollment and the fact that, as in past years, a
few NFS families began attending meeting as a result of their experiences at NFS.
This past year did have many bright spots as well. As Ann Reece mentions in her report, the
school was reaccredited by the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools
(PAIS) for another ten years. The report
is a strong endorsement of the work we do and the commitment to our mission. Also detailed in Ann’s report is information
about the new strategic plan that was crafted during the past year. Hard copy of the plan will be available
within the next month and it will also be posted on the website. This September we launched a new website (www.newtownfriends.org) that is more
individualized than the previous site and enables us to better communicate with
the various constituencies in our community.
With our commitment to environmental stewardship, the new site also
enables us to go almost completely paperless with our communications. Secondary school placement remains strong
(see attached). A little over half of
our students attend George School and many attend other academically excellent
independent schools.
As classrooms become increasingly student-centered, there
are exciting initiatives in the curriculum.
The school now has excellent technology capabilities and teachers are
continually increasing their technological skills and incorporating technology
into the curriculum. The Curriculum
Review Committee spent time this past summer reviewing the social studies
curriculum and we will be incorporating changes over the coming year. Our focus on the SPICES continues and this
year’s theme is community. The Agents of
Social Change (TASC), our student led service organization continues to
thrive. The group’s motto is “mission
possible” and they are doing great work.
The group’s fund raising effort this year is, once again, Darfur. In addition to fund raising, students do
other service work and help to increase school spirit.
As Ann indicated in her report, the financial health of the
school is strong. Attached are the
unaudited results for the 2008-09 school year.
In the current economic climate we are doing all we can to keep budgets
lean and be fiscally prudent without compromising our academic program. Financial sustainability is a key element of
the new strategic plan and I am confident that the School Committee is
sufficiently focused on the importance of this for the future health of the
school. For this year, we awarded a
total of approximately $475,000 in tuition assistance with $415,000 from NFS
and the remainder coming from other sources (PYM, local meetings, etc.) We received 74 applications for assistance;
65 qualified for aid. This represents
21% of the student body. Eleven Quaker
students received 18% of the available funding.
In March, I announced that the 2009-10 school year will be
my last as head of school. After
twenty-four years at NFS, fourteen as head, the school is well positioned for
new leadership. Academics are strong;
the physical plant is in excellent shape; we have state-of-the-art technology
for an elementary school; and the school has been reaccredited for the next ten
years. As Ann indicated, the search for
a new head is going well and will, hopefully, be completed in the next few
weeks. As I conclude my fourteenth, and
last, annual report to the Meeting, I want to thank both the Newtown Friends
School Committee and the Meeting for the trust and support you demonstrated for
my leadership. I was blessed with strong
clerks and valued their wisdom at times when I needed to make difficult
decisions. I look forward to watching
Newtown Friends School thrive under new leadership as I embark on new
adventures.
Respectfully submitted,
Steve Nierenberg
Head of School
Newtown Friends
School 2008-2009 Revenue (Unaudited)
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REVENUE
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Tuition
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$ 4,621,918
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Tuition Assistance
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(414,609)
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Tuition Aid External (Friends Institutions/Other)
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61,647
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Endowment
Income
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35,000
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Auxiliary
Income
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180,953
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Annual
Fund/Other Gifts
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315,642
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Other
Income
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78,573
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TOTAL
REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS
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$
4,879,124
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Newtown Friends School Proprietary 11/09
Newtown Friends School 2008-2009 Expenses
(Unaudited)
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EXPENSES
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Staff Salaries and Benefits
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$ 3,635,819
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Instructional Materials
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$ 67,976
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Operational Expenses
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$ 1,256,191
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TOTAL
OPERATIONAL EXPENSES
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$ 4,959,986
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GAIN/LOSS
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$ (80,862)
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Newtown Friends School Proprietary 11/09
