Your generosity fuels growth and innovation.
Thanks to gifts to the Faculty Compensation Endowment, high school programs, and the Annual Campaign, in fiscal year 2022-23 the school raised $2,706,423, an increase of more than $900,000 over the previous year. In addition, gifts to Sequoyah’s recent capital campaign have further strengthened the school’s financial position.
Sequoyah School’s mission to challenge the mind, nurture the heart, and celebrate human dignity has helped generations of students thrive since the school’s establishment in 1958. This mission was forward-thinking from the start, is imperative today, and continues to be aspirational and inspirational within our school community and beyond.
Your generosity supports:
outstanding faculty and innovative academic curricula;
diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning environments where students feel known and accepted;
the ownership and stewardship of Sequoyah’s campuses and investment in state-of-the-art technology and systems; and
a bold Indexed Tuition Program for an intentionally diverse school community.
Our collective generosity is an expression of responsibility for the school’s success—and each student’s success.
Thank you!
Elena Phleger
Director of Advancement
Endowment Support
Faculty Compensation Endowment
In Spring 2022, an extraordinary and important initial commitment of $100,000 from a Sequoyah family opened an endowment to support a sustained increase in faculty compensation, addressing a strategic priority. The Faculty Compensation Endowment is a permanently restricted fund whose proceeds will support the school’s efforts to raise and sustain faculty compensation. By establishing the fund, the donors generously enabled anyone else to contribute any amount at any time. In the fall of 2022, Sequoyah received a gift of $1.5M ($1M to the endowment fund, and $500,000 to be spent over the next several years to support budget increases in compensation while the endowment grows in its size and capacity to yield significant contributions to annual operating revenue.) In sum, this gift is a long-term financial commitment to the art and value of teaching, which is at the heart of Sequoyah’s mission.
The school continues to actively seek and receive additional gifts for this purpose. By February 2024 gifts to the fund equalled $1,637,217. With additional contributions, the endowment will grow in capacity and impact, always directly benefiting teachers and encouraging them to build their careers at Sequoyah. Generations of our students will benefit from this legacy as it honors and celebrates Sequoyah’s passionate, deeply caring teacher-role models.
Program Development
Major Gifts Invest in High School Growth
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Thanks to thoughtful gifts from several Sequoyah families totaling more than $140,000, high school performing arts programs have been substantially funded and equipped beyond what the growing high school budget could have otherwise afforded. These gifts have laid the foundation for a powerful music and arts-focused environment which advances artistic collaboration, ensemble-building, and truly authentic storytelling. Our programs are designed to draw upon our student’s own experiences and develop their knowledge, skill, and performance practice.
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The Design and Fabrication (dFab) Hub is a high school program integrated into the recently renovated high school building, co-located in the new art studio. A generous $100,000 gift in support of this program and maker space enabled the school to hire its first dFab coordinator, who quickly launched a multiplicity of workshops and trainings for both students and faculty who were eager to understand how to realize their ideas and apply their changemaking skills. Three years into program development, The dFab Hub has become an interdisciplinary tinkering space where students can explore high-tech or low-tech tools, materials, and equipment. An additional gift towards its support accelerated the success of the H2 Grand Prix driving team.
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Sequoyah was founded by families who were determined to establish a school in which students would graduate with a deeper understanding of themselves and their communities, confident in their ability to imagine a more just future and prepared for active citizenship. Sequoyah families still think this way. Prompted by discerning questions posed by their graduating senior, Sequoyah parents decided in 2021 to start a fund to address inequities in the college admissions process by giving $10,000 to Sequoyah’s college counseling program. With additional contributions the “I am going to college fund“ offsets various expenses some Sequoyah students and their families could not afford such as travel to college campuses, summer college prep programming and application fees.
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Generous financial support pledged over several years from three Sequoyah families has fueled the growth and continuing success of Sequoyah’s high school debate program while fostering stronger connections and mentorship opportunities for a K-12 program. As the debate program continues to grow we envision:
• Expanding opportunities for K-12 collaboration, strengthening cross-campus interaction and culture
• Demonstrating Sequoyah’s commitment to academic skill building and intellectual engagement – enhancing school profile and student recruitment
• Intersection with the high school Social Innovation Program - expanding students’ knowledge base, fostering discussion of real-world scenarios and current events
Annual Campaign
Funds for teaching and learning,
for every school day and every child,
inside and outside the classroom
Annual giving is crucial to the success of Sequoyah's unique program. Funds raised through the Annual Campaign allow the school the flexibility to address long-standing budget obligations and unanticipated expenses. Gifts range in size from $5 to $50,000. Funds raised during the campaign are used by the school within the same fiscal year. Thank you for joining present and past parents, grandparents, trustees, faculty, staff, alumni, and many friends who contribute to the Annual Campaign's success last year raising over $615,000.
Collective giving recognizes our shared responsibility for the school’s success– and every student’s success. Consistent generosity year after year assures Sequoyah thrives as an exceptional, inclusive, and socioeconomically diverse school community.
Capital Campaign: 2017 and Beyond
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The capital campaign through 2021 raised $7 million, significantly improving the school’s financial position in anticipation of the purchase from Caltrans of the K-8 campus at 535 S. Pasadena Avenue. The campaign also assured the growth of a K-12 program, facilitating the acquisition of nearby property at 500 S. Pasadena Avenue which offers comparatively unhindered potential for future facilities and program development.
In anticipation of Caltrans offering to sell the K-8 campus some time in 2024, we will seek an additional $3 million in gifts toward its purchase and renovation. Pre-pandemic appraisals have been eclipsed by inflation, and the scope of deferred maintenance has become clear. The 2.3-acre campus and architecturally significant structures represent the school’s identity, place-based educational philosophy, and commitment to community. Its value as a property, supporting extraordinary teachers and their students, mirrors the value of a Sequoyah education – worthy of investment and exponentially appreciating over time.
High School Campus Expansion
At the high school campus, brand-new spaces constructed during the quiet of COVID have allowed the high school community to return from remote to hands-on learning. The new art studio, science laboratory, and main office have transitioned the high school into a new chapter, with expanded facilities; state of the art equipment; large patios for project building and experimentation, recreation, and gathering; and additional office space. A faculty lounge is scheduled to be completed by fall 2024.
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A milestone in Sequoyah’s history, the school acquired the property directly across the street from the K-8 campus at 500 S. Pasadena Avenue. Two existing dilapidated buildings were remodeled in 2022 to accommodate administrative offices and a “base camp” with adequate storage and kitchen for our Field Studies program, which now serves 23 trips during the school year. Signifying the ongoing transformation of the school, we are eager to explore the possibilities the site holds for K-12 programming and look forward to a master planning process as we envision its long-term potential for school and community engagement.
