Go Further!
4/19/12 2:37 PM in admissions, community, Education, independent school, marketing
Community Scholarship Program Announced for 2nd Year
Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School announced in April that it will offer four scholarships to incoming 9th grade students who are children of Manatee County or Sarasota County first responders and law enforcement professionals (employees of Sheriff’s Offices, Police Departments, and Fire Departments, EMTs, Correctional Officers, etc. Click the link below for full description of eligibility). The full scholarships will cover all four years of Upper School (9th through 12th grades) beginning with the 2012/2013 school year.
Application deadline is June 15, 2012. Please visit click here for eligibility requirements and here to initiate an application online. For more information or with questions, please contact Linda Lutz at llutz@saintstephens.org or 941-746-2121.
I think this is a wonderful expression of gratitude for the hard work, dedication and sacrifice these employees do for our community each and every day. I am so proud to be a part of a school that recognizes their valuable contribution.
4/13/12 1:26 PM in Uncategorized
Re-Enrollment for 2012-2013 is Strong!
The deadline to turn in re-enrollment contracts was on March 30, 2012 and the response was outstanding!
Thank you to all parents for returning your student contracts ON TIME. It helps us plan accordingly for next school year with our budget, course selections, and extra-curricular activities and special events, and when we know how many students are expected to return, we can plan much more efficiently and effectively.
Plus, the real benefit is that we know you continue to entrust us with your children. We truly feel like we are one big family and we love to see your children continue to grow and develop. Thank you for giving us this special opportunity.
3/30/12 10:00 AM in community, Education, independent school, philanthropy
Our Saint Stephen’s Community is Incredible!
Wow! Amazing! Incredible!
I am truly blown away at the generous response from our Saint Stephen’s families during the 36-Hour Giving Challenge. Although our numbers are not final yet, we do know we raised over $75,000 thanks to our very special Saint Stephen’s community. Gifts were received locally and globally and many of our families were watching the leader board with as much anticipation and excitement as all of us here on campus.
Thank you to all of you who gave us support. We had an early bird team of volunteers who came in during the wee hours to help us input gifts, and we are so glad they came! The 1:1 matching dollars were gone in less than five minutes! For those of us who were here, we felt the exhilaration of watching the leader board while working under the time crunch to type fast without making errors! Thank you Nancy Nicosia, Luci Hartman, Sallie Ivin, Carlos Boothby, Jan Pullen, Tracy Vanderneck, Dannie Sherrill, Donna Ranck, and Jen Sabo for waking up early to help us launch the event. You made an incredible difference.
Thank you to those of you who helped us spread the word. Your efforts paid off! We were in the running for a special gift of $5,000 for having the most visitors to our profile. While we ultimately did not get this gift (we were so close!), your efforts still made a huge difference. We received 279 gifts through this event, and many of those people made gifts because they visited our profile. Thank you!
It was thrilling to be a part of this event, and we thank the Community Foundation of Sarasota, the Manatee Community Foundation and the Patterson Foundation for making this event possible. We are grateful for your creative energies and dedication to inspire philanthropists to give to the 109 organizations involved in this inaugural event, and we congratulate all of the organizations who participated. We raised awareness of the power of philanthropy to change lives while making a positive impact in our community that will have lasting benefits.
From all of us at Saint Stephen’s, thank you for supporting our children.
3/9/12 2:56 PM in community, Education, marketing, philanthropy, Uncategorized
Double Your Impact – This is BIG!
We know you’re passionate about Saint Stephen’s, and on March 27, you can help us score big in the 36-Hour Giving Challenge!
The 36-Hour Giving Challenge is an online giving event inspiring donors and citizen philanthropists to learn more about the nonprofits and causes in Southwest Florida they care about most. Saint Stephen’s is among the first 100 nonprofit organizations selected to participate and we are asking for your help.
The Community Foundation of Sarasota County, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, and Manatee Community Foundation—with the support of The Patterson Foundation—have partnered to launch The Giving Partner and to make the 36-Hour Giving Challenge possible.
Together, they are providing matching funds of $501,000.
Here are the ways you can help:
• Give a gift up to $1,000 and get a 1:1 match for your donation, until funding is exhausted. (This will go fast, so you need to be ready to give on Tuesday, March 27 at 6:00 a.m.! We will send an e-blast at 6:05 a.m. so all you will need to do is click the link on the e-blast OR we can take your information in advance and make the donation online for you. The development office team will be on campus at 5:45 a.m. to begin processing gifts. Click here if you’d like for one of us to call you to get your information.)
• Help us get a special grant for attracting the most donors. We can win up to $20,000 by having the most unique donors give $25 or more to us. (A unique donor is anyone who has a unique name, unique credit card, and unique email address – so multiple family members can participate too!)
• Help us earn one of 20 grants for being among the first nonprofits to have 50 donors donate $50 or more. (A leader board will be posted showing the rankings of these 100 organizations. We want to be at the top of the leader board to show our community we are an organization worthy of support! Help us be on top!)
• One random donor per hour will receive an additional $250 added to his/her donation. (Consider yourself a night owl? Make your gift online during off-peak hours and your gift will have a greater chance of being selected. That’s right, make a gift between 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. and you may increase your odds of getting an additional gift added to the gift you make!)
• Help us get one of two $5,000 grants just by visiting our profile during the challenge. (No gift is necessary. All you need to do is view our profile and visit us on as many different devises as possible. Be sure the IP address is unique – so go from smart phone, to iPad, to laptop – and your multiple visits will help us even more!)
• Follow us on Facebook and listen for our shout outs of success!
Your gift will make an incredible difference for the students and faculty at Saint Stephen’s, so please help us! Thank you for sharing our excitement about this amazing opportunity.
Gratefully,
Jennifer Vigne, CFRE
Director of Marketing & Development
Click here to view our profile.
Click here for a development officer to contact you.
3/2/12 11:45 AM in community, independent school, philanthropy, Uncategorized
36 Hour Giving Challenge!
Saint Stephen’s has an incredible opportunity to receive matching funds, and we hope everyone in our community helps us to maximize this giving challenge!
The Giving Partner, which is sponsored by The Community Foundation of Sarasota, The Gulf Coast Community Foundation, and The Manatee Community Foundation, with support from The Patterson Foundation, will be conducting a gift match campaign for just 36 hours only.
Any gift up to $1,000 that is given by a unique donor online using a credit card for payment will be eligible for a 1:1 match until the pool of $501,000 has been given away. That’s right, a 1:1 match! In other words, if you decide to make a gift designated to Saint Stephen’s, your $1,000 gift will become $2,000. You can double your impact immediately. How cool is that?!
However, our donors will need to act fast. The funds are first-come, first-served and the money will not last.
Please mark your calendar, set your alarm, and turn your coffee pot on earlier on MARCH 27. Beginning at 6:00 am, gifts will begin to be eligible for the match.
Click here for our profile.
Thanks in advance for helping. It will make such a positive impact for our students, and we are grateful to The Giving Partner for allowing us to participate in this spectacular community-building activity!
2/24/12 1:01 PM in community
It’s Leap Year – What Will You Do With Your Extra 24 Hours?
Have you ever wished for more time? Can’t seem to get everything done that’s on your “to-do” list?
Well, it’s leap year (yeah!) and with that, each one of us is given the gift of extra time.
It doesn’t happen very often, so what are you planning to do with your extra 24 hours? For me, I’m trying to add margin in my life so this extra day gives me cushion to run more, finish my class assignments, and spend time with my family. What about you?
2/10/12 2:44 PM in admissions, community, Education, enrollment, independent school, marketing
Searching for…New Families
A few of my friends and colleagues have shared some of the direct mail pieces they have recently received from other area private schools. This is a traditional time of year when schools begin to actively market to new families for the next academic school year, and Saint Stephen’s is no exception.
Saint Stephen’s marketing strategy, albeit multifaceted, really comes down to two simple things:
- A focus on internal marketing strategies, such as enhancing the website and maximizing search engine optimization. We believe most people will begin their search for schools through the internet, and as such, we are investing a good portion of our time and resources to that end.
- A focus on word-of-mouth marketing. We believe in the power of a testimonial. Whether from a parent, student, alumni, or teacher, people listen to people. As you can see by the video series we have recently introduced, we have our community talking.
And, we need more of our families spreading the word too. No other marketing strategy is more effective than word-of-mouth. Families, here is your call to action:
- Share your excitement of Saint Stephen’s with others
- Tell your friends and family members about our special community
- Allow the great qualities of Saint Stephen’s to permeate throughout every playground conversation
- Go to greatschools.org and post a positive review about the school
It makes a difference. Thank you for being a part of our “marketing committee!”
For a preview of one of our testimonials, click below.
2/1/12 5:27 PM in Education, independent school, journalism
Gauntlet Goes Live!
This press release was sent today (thanks, Tracy) and I thought it was worth sharing with you.
We are so proud of the journalism students and advisor, Nadia Watts, that I thought I’d include the press release in my blog. Their hard work is making news too! Scene Magazine visited them today and the Bradenton Herald is writing about it their blog, too.
Here’s the release:
The award-winning newspaper, The Gauntlet, of the Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School’s Upper School (9th through 12th grades) made the transition from paper copy to online news source today. After months of preparation, The Gaunlet went live at http://www.ssesgauntlet.org/.
The Gauntlet has been in production since 2005, and until now was produced just four times per year. With the new online platform, The Gauntlet staff will be able to cover breaking news and use photos, videos, audio and links to enhance their reporting.
“The Gauntlet has won many awards in the past five years, due to hard work by Saint Stephen’s Upper School students,” said Nadia Watts, the students’ journalism teacher. “This year’s Gauntlet staff will leave the legacy of creating a robust online news resource.”
News will be covered in the following categories: News, Features, Sports, Opinions, Student Life.
Senior Aiste Zalepuga; Beat: School news
Senior Amber Falkner; Beat: Academics
Junior Monique Chicvak; Beat: Fine Arts
Junior Devon Tallman; Beat: Local news
Junior Stefan Wolfe; Beat: School Clubs
Sophomore Austin Siegel; Beat: Sports
Sophomore Isabelle Bermudez; Beat: Entertainment
Freshman Luc Goeders; Beat: National news
Memberships
Journalism Education Association
Columbia Scholastic Press Association
Florida Scholastic Press Association
Awards
Columbia Scholastic Press Association:
Silver medalist, 2011
Silver medalist, 2010
Silver medalist, 2009
Bronze medalist, 2008
Silver medalist, 2007
Silver medalist, 2006
Florida Scholastic Press Association:
Silver medalist, 2011
So be sure to check out the new online version of the Gauntlet! Our students deserve the recognition for putting together a great masterpiece.
1/20/12 1:16 PM in Uncategorized
Saint Stephen’s Rears Up for Re-Enrollment
Re-enrollment for the 2012-2013 academic year begins on Wednesday, February 1. We are rearing up for our official kick-off and hope all of our families are planning to return (okay, so maybe not our families who have only graduating seniors, but we sure hope you’ll still visit us!).
Be sure to look for your student enrollment contract which will arrive in the postal mail the first week of February. Special incentives will be offered to those families who return their student contracts by March 30, so be sure to check the mail and get it back as soon as you can!
We anticipate another strong turn-out from new families so to reserve a guaranteed space, you must turn in your contract quickly.
A funny thing happened recently when we hosted our Polo event….as soon as we sent our email announcing that we were filled to capacity, we had so many families ask if they could still come, we had to start a waiting list!
Don’t let this happen to you! New family interest is strong. We want to be sure we have a space for our current families so gear up with us and re-enroll!
1/13/12 11:18 AM in community, Education, independent school
Saint Stephen’s Speaks at Lakewood Ranch Rotary Lunch
Yesterday afternoon, I had the privilege of coordinating Saint Stephen’s to be the speaking topic at the Lakewood Ranch Rotary Club. Director of College Counseling, Rick Ellis, along with Assistant Athletic Director, Tod Creneti, spoke to approximately 50 Rotarians about what makes our school so special, so different, so amazingly unique.
Their presentation highlighted that to compete in today’s business world, 21st Century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, leadership, and collaboration have become immeasurably beneficial to a company’s performance.
They shared their knowledge, experience and insights on how preparing students of today to become leaders of tomorrow often begins with an academic foundation coupled with an athletic discipline.
They showcased our school’s commitment to developing community-minded citizens who are equipped to be the change agents in solving local and global social, political, and environmental issues.
And, they shared great stories about our students.
Sometimes in our rush of daily life to make lunches, get homework done, and race out the door to get to school on-time, it’s easy to lose sight of the journey we are on.
Rick and Tod’s presentation powerfully demonstrated the school’s commitment and care for each and every child, and that even though we are not perfect, we recognize that a child’s education goes beyond the walls of a classroom, and every person at Saint Stephen’s is a stakeholder in this journey.
Parents – as we begin to prepare for re-enrollment for next school year, I hope each one of you sees the value of Saint Stephen’s. I know yesterday’s presentation reinforced it for me.
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