This past Sunday, we welcomed over 200 students, alumni, families and f/Friends to our groundbreaking celebration. Drew Sigfridson, campaign co-chair and parent, and Lise Wagner, alumni parent and board clerk, welcomed friends at the front door and invited everyone to walk through and imagine what the school building will look like next fall.

We have literally come to the end of the space we created with the enormous support of the Friends School community back in 2013 and 14. Families walked out the bridge door and into the area that will shortly become a glassed-in connector leading to two 5-6 classrooms (which we will need next year), two 7-8 classrooms (which will both be filled in 2022), two bathrooms, two storage rooms, and a porch off the back. This wing, like the original school building, is designed to Passive House standards--the highest voluntary environmental standard in the world, using 85% less energy than a conventional building. We will continue to be fossil-fuel free. In this iteration, there will be charging stations in the parking lot and another solar array on the roof.

We have raised an astounding $1,929,214 over the past 15 months, bringing us 87% of the way to what we need to pay for the middle school wing. One hundred percent of our faculty and staff have contributed to the project, as have 100% of the board of directors and 100% of the capital campaign committee. Other early donors have quietly and oh-so-generously done the rest, many pledging their support over 5 years. On Sunday, we opened the doors to you our glorious community, asking for your help in raising the remaining $286,000 by December 31.

We have something very exciting to announce: a matching gift of $115,000! This means that each gift that is given will be doubled until that amount is reached. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to those who have made this challenge gift possible.

There are many ways to participate: speaking with me, Brooke, a board member or a capital campaign committee member. You can find out about making a pledge or giving a gift of appreciated stock. You'll see we have a way for folks to give online now and a beautiful little video you can forward to friends and family. Together we'll work together to get this building built.

I always feel so lucky to be part of this place that is formed by the gifts and talents of our community.

Thank you,