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It is with great excitement that BSSS announces the official launch of The Heritage Campaign. Sparked by a multi million dollar challenge and initial pledges in excess of $900,000, we have now entered the public phase of a far-reaching capital and endowment campaign designed to complete the initial facility plans and address long term endowment priorities. The Heritage Campaign, a $4.5 million dollar campaign that includes a $2 million challenge from long-time supporter and BSSS benefactor Bert Bornblum, will enable Schechter to make significant enhancements to facilities and solidify our endowment. Two very significant things should result from the campaign. First, our facilities expansion will rectify the limited space issues we currently face. The planned expansion includes: a 240 seat auditorium with a stage, five new classrooms, additional space for our new Enrichment Program, a conference room, storage space, locker rooms and the enlargement of Scheidt Hall to include a full court. We will then move the Upper Grades to the new facility and move the fifth grade classrooms down to the other end of the building. We will also move the computer lab into the full sized classroom located next to the current lab. These changes will give us our art room back and allow us to create appropriate office space for our Judaic Studies Principal and Development Director. We will also move both our General Studies Support and Hebrew Support into a brightly lit classroom with windows. The changes will also enable us to add some conference/meeting space to the facility so teachers, parents and others will have places to meet as needed. We anticipate breaking ground this May. We hope that the expansion of Scheidt Hall will be complete prior to the start of the 2007-08 school year and the entire facility should be ready in early 2008. Once the new facility is ready the portable unit will be removed from our property. Please see the attached drawing of the new facility for a better understanding of the plans. The second significant piece that should result from the campaign is the growth of the school’s restricted and unrestricted endowment program. This will enable us to do a variety of important things including offering competitive faculty salaries and benefits and other incentives designed to attract and retain outstanding educators. A solid endowment is critical to the future of BSSS and will contribute to putting the school in a strong financial position in years ahead. If you have already made a pledge to the campaign we thank you for your generosity and support. If you have not been asked to contribute yet, someone from the campaign committee will be contacting you soon. Meanwhile, I ask that you consider what your family is capable of giving to this important campaign. Your gift, which can be paid out in as many as five years, will be an investment in the future of our community and will be matched dollar for dollar. Please note that our Annual Giving Campaign is also going on concurrently. As always, our planned annual deficit must be made up through donations. You will be asked to donate to the Annual Campaign (unless you have already given) during your discussions about the Heritage Campaign. If you have any questions about all of these efforts please feel free to give Brena Bluestein a call or contact Karen Karmel, our Director of Development and Recruitment. |
