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Thursday, January 12, 2017


Dear Parents and Guardians,We hope that you and your family enjoyed the recent holiday break and that 2017 will be a joyous and peaceful year for all. As we head into the second half of the school year, we want to share information with you about some new initiatives under way at the School, as well as the tuition rate for 2017/18.The past year has been an extraordinary one for Sidwell Friends. After completing a rigorous self-study this fall, the School received reaccreditation from the Association of Independent Maryland Schools (AIMS). One immediate outcome of that process was the formation of a strategic planning committee, made up of faculty, parents, trustees, and alumni. This group is currently gathering information from our community and will draft a detailed strategic plan to address the School’s existing and long-term needs.The School also recently acquired two properties adjacent to our DC campus, 3939 Wisconsin Avenue and the Washington Home. Although we had not expected that these properties would be for sale or that we would be able to purchase them so rapidly, the Board of Trustees wanted to make sure the School did not miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now that the properties are officially part of our campus, we face an intriguing and historic prospect: imagining and helping to create the Sidwell Friends of the future. The strategic planning committee’s work will guide this effort.As we embrace both the opportunities and the challenges that this project entails, the board remains mindful of the Quaker values grounding all our work: the passionate pursuit of creative, equitable, and innovative learning, as well as the need for responsible stewardship. Each fall, the board finance committee reviews the previous year’s financial performance and prepares a budget for the next year. With the new properties in mind, the committee also took a closer look at key income and expense categories and began building a comprehensive, long-term, and sustainable financial model for the School.Like most independent schools, Sidwell Friends relies heavily on tuition income for its operations. Tuition accounts for nearly 80% of our budget, with the remainder derived from the annual fund, special events, endowment returns on our portfolio, and auxiliary services. Because the new properties are both being leased to their former owners, expenses associated with those facilities are currently nominal. In the coming years, we expect that the new financial model will account for additional operational costs through a major capital campaign and other potential new sources of revenue. In addition, as goals emerge from the strategic planning process, all costs associated with those objectives will be carefully defined and thoughtfully prioritized.But even as we develop these far-reaching plans, the board remains determined to keep tuition increases in check. Over the past year, the board’s institutional sustainability task force has worked closely with the finance committee and school administration to develop cost-containing strategies. Financial sustainability and the need to slow tuition growth while continuing to improve faculty compensation remain a central focus of the board. The tuition increase for next year, 3.75%, is smaller than those of the previous two years, bringing the tuition rate for 2017/18 to $40,840.The Board of Trustees looks forward to the coming year with great optimism as we embark on these new projects and continue to strengthen our academic programs and our community. We thank you for your support and engagement and for entrusting your children’s education to Sidwell Friends.With all best wishes, Margaret Plank, Clerk Neal Wilson, Treasurer Board of Trustees Board of Trustees


3825 Wisconsin Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016 Tel: 202-537-8100 Fax: 202-537-8138


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