Room to Move Campaign
The Washington Waldorf School is thrilled to share that the Room to Move campaign to build a gymnasium on our school's campus exceeded its $7 million fundraising goal! Altogether, 402 donors came together to raise a total of $7,127,037! Every dollar raised as a part of this campaign has contributed to the project. Funds raised beyond the $7 million goal will be used by the school to replenish its reserve funds. Prior to the Room to Move campaign, a portion of the school's reserve funds were used for planning, permitting, and consulting, as well as early architectural and engineering fees.
We thank every donor and volunteer who contributed their resources and time towards making the Room to Move campaign and the John and Mary Brauer Gym possible. We especially thank our lead donor and alum parent, Brad Clark, for his transformative $3.5 million challenge gift towards this initiative. His investment has inspired the Washington Waldorf School community to match his generosity, dollar for dollar, to reach a total goal of $7 million dollars to finance the Gym.
We also extend our gratitude to our Campaign Co-Chairs, Vanessa and John Beckman and Maria Monteverde-Jackson and Jon Jackson. They worked tirelessly throughout this campaign, hosted many events, met individually with other families, and inspired our community to give at its highest capacity.
We achieved 100% participation from the Trustees Council, 80% support from faculty and staff, and 4 out of 5 parents supported the school during this time. Many donors increased their giving over prior years, and multiple families made their largest commitments ever to make this vision a reality, including 35 gifts of $25,000 or more. In addition, 63 alums stepped forward to support this effort, many of them giving to our school for the first time.
Every donor who contributed to this campaign will be honored on a plaque in the new Gym. It took our entire community to make this endeavor possible, and this visual representation of each donor's participation will not only recognize and honor every gift, it will also inspire future generations of WWS families.
At Mr. Clark's request, the Gym will be named after two longtime faculty members, alum parents, and grandparents of the school, John and Mary Brauer. The John and Mary Brauer Gym will open in time for the 2023/2024 school year, and serve as an athletic facility, additional classroom space, and a community space. We will celebrate the opening of the building with a ribbon cutting event on Saturday, September 9, 2023. There will truly be more Room to Move!
The Room to Move campaign also acknowledges the success of Washington Waldorf School’s previous campaign, Build Our Vision, which completed Phase 1 of necessary renovations to our existing building at 4800 Sangamore Road. Building the gym is Phase 2 of a vision to make 4800 Sangamore Road a long term home for Washington Waldorf School. Building the gym is possible today because of the dedication, hard work, and generosity of many previous parents, grandparents, and faculty.
Campaign Leadership
Thanks to all our donors
Thank you to the following parents, alums, faculty, parents of alums, grandparents, and friends whose gifts have helped us exceed our $7 million goal to date for the Room to Move campaign
