ANNUAL FUND MISSION
Fundraising and donations are critical to the financial health of Peregrine School. In order to fund upcoming expenses such as minimum wage increases and improvements for Peregrine School, we are starting the very first Peregrine School Annual Fund. Donations to this fund will help close the gap between tuition income and the cost of providing a high quality, project-based educational experience for our students.
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Tuition revenue only covers 89% of our operational costs, Peregrine School relies on support from its community - be that parents, grandparents, or friends of Peregine. Because Peregrine School is a 501(3) Non-profit, all donations are tax-deductible and go directly to improving our school and the lives of our children.
Any and all donations are appreciated and needed. As an added bonus, we have the following awards available to donors in the following donation levels:
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Peregrino $500+
REWARDS TO BE ANNOUNCED
$84+ a month for 6 months.
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Nestling $400 - $499
REWARDS TO BE ANNOUNCED
$67-$83 a month for 6 months
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Fledgling $300 - $399
REWARDS TO BE ANNOUNCED
$50-$66 a month for 6 months
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Hatchling $200 - $299
REWARDS TO BE ANNOUNCED
$33-$49 a month for 6 months.
Gifts to the Annual Fund may be designated to one of the two following funds:
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Elementary Annual Fund
Donations to this fund help to offset the cost of running our elementary specialty classes, staff salaries, class trips, professional development, educational experiences, and more.
Early Childhood Center Annual Fund
Donations to this fund will help to offset the cost of both South and West ECC programs. This fund will help to provide each class with materials, room and yard improvements, staff salaries, professional development, and more.
We understand that all of our donors are vested in Peregrine School and are interested in why we need this support, how exactly we are spending this money, and the ways it helps our community. To see more details about the why and how of it all, please continue reading!
ANNUAL FUND
GOALS
Each year, Peregrine School asks its teachers and staff members to put together a list of goals for their classrooms and various areas of the school.
These goals are items that are important for the growth and development of the school and are a part of why we need the community's support.
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Below you will find these goals listed, why they are needed, and the kind of support we need from you to achieve them!
Trellis for Elementary Side Yard
One of the improvements we would like to make is to construct a trellis that runs between the emergency fire lane, and the usable class space on the side of the elementary yard.
By adding a trellis between these two lanes, we can provide additional outdoor classroom spaces for our elementary students. The added trellis will also add privacy to our yard by shielding it from the tennis courts next door.
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Donations to the trellis project, and other elementary projects, can be made by donating to the Annual Fund and designating the donation to Elementary.
Fencing for Escueltia Yard
In the Escuelita South yard, we hope to build a fence structure to divide the sand play areas and the rest of the yard. This would be helpful in creating outdoor spaces more accommodating to teaching classes outdoors, keeping the students' interests in the same area, and to help the teachers monitor the students while outdoors. In addition to the fence, other improvements are being researched for the Escuelita yard to improve the outdoor classroom spaces for education and play!
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To donate to the Esculetia yard project, or any of our other projects for the Early Childhood Centers (including the West site!), you can donate to our Annual Fund and designate the donation to the ECC fund.
Outdoor Kitchen
We would like to convert a portion of our fantasy garden into an outdoor kitchen space. We would like to convert the building in the Fantasy Garden, currently being used as a storage facility, to a functional kitchen with a side door access to the open area on the building's side. In this outdoor area, we will have tables and spaces for cooking classes or activities. We will also continue to use our composting area that is currently in this spot, as this is an important resource for our gardens.
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Donations to our Outdoor Kitchen project and all other general school projects can be made by donating to our 2019-2020 Annual Fund.
To Be Announced
MORE PROJECTS TO BE ANNOUNCED!
NEEDS
Like most independent schools, Peregrine School faces the challenge that tuition alone covers only some of our expenses (89.5%). Next year, our expenses are anticipated to increase by 6% and the 2020-2021 tuition must increase enough to cover most of our anticipated additional expenses. Raising tuition is not a sustainable way of covering our increasing expenses. In order to stabilize tuition rates, we need to increase our non-tuition sources of income. Here’s how you can help!
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We need your help in supporting our operating budget. The funds raised will help sustain our programs, including supporting our talented and dedicated teaching staff. Fundraising is essential to the everyday functions of Peregrine School. Every gift matters. Every gift makes a difference.
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WAGES
Wages increase will be our greatest financial need in the upcoming school years. Wages are already our single largest expense as they make up 65% of our total expenses. Minimum wage is increasing by $4.00 over 4 years (~7.5% each year) until it reaches $15.00/hour in 2022, meaning wages will become an even greater expense. Because of these facts, our funding challenge over the next two years is to keep pay equity. This means that as minimum wage increases, we need to raise all our staff comparably, not just the staff earning minimum wage.
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In the 2019-2020 school year, it will cost Peregrine School an additional $128,000 to give wage increase parity to all our staff. This represents a 5.75% increase in wages from this year. The ECC alone will cost $88,000 in minimum wage increases and raises, and the Elementary will cost $22,000. In order to cover these increasing expenses, Peregrine School needs help now more than ever from our community of donors to cover our operating costs and stabilize tuition rates.
