Impact of Giving to PDS

Gifts to the PDS Annual Fund impact every aspect of the school and touch every member of the PDS community. The Annual Fund supports field trips, student productions, music and art, new technology and equipment, library resources, professional development for teachers – practically everything that enhances learning at PDS. Tuition makes it possible to have a school. The PDS Annual Fund makes it possible to have a great!

In addition to all of the tangible things made possible by Annual Fund gifts, high rates of Annual Fund participation by trustees, parents and alumni are essential for the school to attract gifts and grants from foundations and corporations. These sources view a high rate of Annual Fund participation as a key indicator that PDS is worthy of their support.

The annual Spring Benefit Auction is the school’s major social and fundraising event of the year. The auction is an enjoyable opportunity for parents, faculty, staff, alumni and PDS friends to socialize and financially support the school. The Benefit Auction compliments the PDS Annual Fund. Net proceeds from the auction are designated by the Board of Trustees and usually support the school’s two endowment funds – for faculty development and scholarships – and/or special projects.

In December 2010 Poughkeepsie Day School was awarded a $50,000 matching grant from the E. E. Ford Foundation of Portland, Maine to develop a Digital Citizenship Project: a mission driven approach to teaching, learning and ethical conduct in the digital era. To receive the full amount of this grant PDS was challenged to raise an additional $50,000 for this project by December 31, 2011 and successfully met this goal and deadline. Securing this grant underscores the importance of high Annual Fund participation.

This effort generated $100,000 for our Digital Citizenship Project to:

• Train teachers to integrate existing and emerging technologies into the changing culture of teaching and learnin
• Develop curriculums that teach students how to be safe on the internet, develop a positive digital footprint, manage their digital reputation and understand the social and ethical implications of the digital universe
• Promote an understanding of the implications and applications of the read-write web to ensure that students go beyond information navigation and critical thinking to become engaged, ethical participants and knowledge generators
• Partner with local, regional and eventually national organizations to familiarize and train faculty and students to use digital media tools inside and outside the classroom

The Diversity Challenge was initiated by an anonymous donor who understood how racial, cultural and socio-economic diversity and gender balance in our classrooms supports the mission of the school and benefits the entire PDS community.

With a goal of increasing the level of diversity in the PDS student body to at least the national average for independent schools of our size, this donor offered to contribute $25,000 for need-based diversity scholarships if the PDS community could raise an additional $25,000 for this purpose.

Since its inception in 2003 through its culmination in 2010, the Diversity Challenge raised more than $370,000 and funded more than 110 need-based awards. It was the catalyst for achieving the objective of increasing the level of diversity in the PDS student body to between 20% and 25%. In addition, this effort made it possible for the school to attain the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) mean for students of color in 2006 and substantially meet or exceed this level ever since.

Diversity is a core value embodied in the school’s mission. PDS remains grateful to this anonymous donor for their vision, generosity and commitment to this core value of the school and to all who joined in helping to meet the Diversity Challenge through the years.