People send their children to Wooster because they know it provides a safe and supportive environment filled with effective and innovative learning opportunities every day. The cornerstones of this unique educational experience are our students, faculty, learning spaces and programs. Ensuring that these four elements get better each year, and come together to create the quintessential Wooster student -- gentle, generous, truthful, kind, brave, and highly skilled -- requires the generosity of Wooster families and friends through giving to the Annual Fund. Each year, the dollars donated to the Annual Fund go directly to the heart of what we do, making it possible for us to preserve that which has made Wooster so special through the years, even as we embrace the new learning of today. Included in this booklet are but a few examples.

Doing More

WOOSTER SCHOOL ANNUAL FUND

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Wooster School relies on the generosity of current and former families, trustees, faculty, friends, and alumni, to advance its mission and prepare students for college and a meaningful life. The Annual Fund is an integral part of our operating funds every year, supporting everything from capital improvements, new technology and financial assistance for families, to underwriting our ongoing efforts to provide teacher learning opportunities and innovative programming for our students. Your donations to Wooster help make the Wooster experience extraordinary. While unrestricted gifts allow Wooster to meet immediate needs, we welcome gifts designated to a number of programs and initiatives on campus. Designated gifts are applied to the current year’s operating expenses. For more information about giving to Wooster School, visit the Giving Guide page of our website at http://woosterschool.org/giving

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“In a makerspace, failure is inevitable. It’s also an incredible teacher. One of our goals this year is to have students fail, so that they can learn.”

Thanks to the generosity of our families and friends, we now have a makerspace, we have filled it with the tools necessary to problem solve through design and building, and have even sent our Director of Innovation and Technology, Tom Curley, back to school. At the Constructing Modern Knowledge Conference he worked with national leaders in the areas of ideation, design, and creativity in schools on the design of our new program, and was reminded that failure is inevitable, and can be a great teacher.

Making at Wooster

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EThe premise behind the book Making Thinking Visible is that all learning starts with thinking. The better that we understand the dimensions of student’s thinking, and help them to understand it themselves, the better they will learn. Through the Annual Fund, co-author, Mark Church spent considerable time at Wooster this past year, working with faculty, and parents, sharing his own thinking and showing us how to create a culture of thinking in each classroom. While taking this deep dive into their own classroom practices, teachers are also strengthening our own community of learners through collaboration and shared goal setting.

a Culture of thinking

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We know that people learn best when they engage in multiple tasks over time, and are allowed to move frequently. To that end, with help from the Annual Fund, we’ve been redesigning our learning spaces to provide more flexibility, space, and natural light. Improvements this year include two classrooms in Wellington Cottage, the Student Center and conference room, a new suite for our Fifth Grade Program, new art tables, and a repurposed learning area for our Humanities I program. We’ve also been filling these spaces with the furniture, Chromebooks, Smartboards, whiteboards, and Yogi-bo’s necessary to support the innovative teaching and learning that is happening every day.

MusicInto its second year, our Instrumental Music Program in the Middle School is going strong. Starting in 6th grade, we put an instrument into every student’s hands and we are seeing amazing progress after just one year.

Athletics and Life FitnessThe immediate benefits of an active student, the life benefits of staying fit, and the lessons that can be learned from a team membership are the driving forces behind the evolution of the Wooster Athletics and Life Fitness program. This year the Annual Fund is supporting more buses, coaches, and officials for an expanded Middle School team sports program, and an expanded Life Fitness program to include classes for our Lower and Middle School students during the day and more opportunities for Upper School students after school.

neW learning, neW spaCes, neW teChnology

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EWooster for allWooster’s motto -- to draw from each according to ability, and to give to each according to need -- has also always been a call to action for our school community as well. Thanks to generous giving to the Annual Fund, Wooster is able to give more financial support to families as a percentage of overall tuition this year than any other independent school in Fairfield and Westchester counties. This isn’t just something that we do, it is who we are.

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DWhat are the broad areas to which I can designate a gift?

Student LifeA gift designated for Student Life will support things like athletics, speakers on campus, visiting artists, guest performers and programming designed to help our students create a better quality of life for themselves and others at Wooster and beyond.

Teaching and Learning These gifts support faculty learning and programs designed to improve the learning experiences of Wooster students, including work with consultants, books, and conferences. Gifts to teaching and learning also support our library program. Technology and InnovationGifts in this area support our efforts to procure the most effective campus and classroom technology. These gifts also support our growing Makerspace program and our technology programming K-12. Tuition AssistanceOur ability to open up the Wooster experience to as many deserving children as possible is central to our mission, and to the culture of the school. No dollars are more important than these.

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Donor Recognition LevelsWooster School recognizes the contributions of all donors. Additionally, events and opportunities for further recognition are held during the year for donors in our leadership categories. For more information about Wooster’s recognition levels, please call 203-830-3920. The Coburn Society: Leadership gifts of $10,000 or more 1926 Society: Donor gifts of $5,000- $9,999 The Chapel Society: Donor gifts of $1,000 - $4,999Maroon and White Society: Donor gifts <$1,000The Verdery Society: Donors who have included Wooster in their estate plans

Matching Gifts:Many companies match employee contributions to Wooster School. To access your company’s matching gift information or to find out if your company will match your donation, visit http://woosterschool.org/matchinggifts and search your company via our Matching Gift Search Engine. Looking for more ways to give or get involved? Then, save the date for the Wooster School Parents Association Gala and Auction Saturday, May 2, 2015 and the Wooster School Golf Classic on Monday, June 1, 2015.

The Annual Fund closed on June 30.