The Campaign for St. Margaret’s School
Educating Young Women For Life
In A New Century
An Enduring Mission
For 75 years, a strong, consistent, unchanged mission has guided the leadership of St. Margaret’s School:
"As we grow in age, may we grow in grace." St. Margaret’s motto reflects our commitment to the growth of young women in every area of their lives: growth in intellectual ability, spiritual maturity, social responsibility, and physical well-being. We offer a diverse student body a sound college preparatory curriculum, challenging to each individual. In a Christian environment, founded on the Episcopal tradition, both honor and character are developed. St. Margaret’s seeks to inspire each student to make the best of herself and in so doing make a better world.
These enduring words have provided, and continue to provide, the framework for all strategic decisions made at this school throughout the decades. By responding to its words in each decade, we have remained vibrant and innovative, while staying true to the purpose of our founding in 1921 as an Episcopal school for girls.
Now, as our leadership reads these words once again, they must ask themselves, "What must we do today to ensure that St. Margaret’s will be able to continue its mission? What are the issues facing young women in the world at large that we must address in our curriculum and program in order to educate them for the lives they will lead in a new century, and how must we change in order to implement this program?"
A Strategic Plan
In April, 1994 St. Margaret’s began a new planning cycle by envisioning a long-term view of St. Margaret’s. The Board of Governors approved the existing mission as appropriate, viable and desirable. The Board, faculty, and administration then focused on such issues as:
- how to put the school on financially sound footing,
- how to recruit and retain faculty and staff meeting the optimal profile outlined by the headmistress,
- how to recruit and retain an appropriate student population,
- how to obtain a physical plant that was well maintained and contained facilities appropriate to our program, and
- how to develop an academic and co-curricular program consistent with and furthering our mission.
Identified Needs
With a solid affirmation of our current strength, we must now turn our focus to the future. We know our strength can best be maintained through building a new facility and increasing both annual support and the endowment.
Facilities
Certainly, if we are to properly prepare young women for life in the 21st century, attention must be given to our science and technology facilities. Just as Miss Woolfolk saw the need to build our current science facility in 1961, we must now address our need for new science and technology facilities, as well as a facility to support our school and local community, as we approach the year 2000.
Visualization of the the New Community-Technology Center located on the waterfront between the Gym and the Woolfolk Library on the South end of the Campus
Science There is no other girls’ school in the country with a campus literally on the banks of a river. St. Margaret’s has taken the first steps toward using this vast natural resource through its marine and environmental science curriculum. Ecology and Environmental Science are popular new additions Also, our students are taking more science courses than the students of previous decades, and our physics course is always full. We are limited, however, by a science facility that has remained virtually unchanged for over three decades.
Technology St. Margaret’s was an early leader in information technology. Our internet presence is visible through our critically acclaimed web page, and our students use a fully-networked campus to communicate around the world, as well as in the classroom. Computer technology, however, is changing, and improving, more swiftly than any other form of information processing in history, making it a critical, yet costly educational enterprise. We need to preserve and enhance this present strength.
Community Center In this age of technological advancement, we must not forget how to communicate with each other in a community. Therefore, we must continue to address the character development aspect of our mission. Nowhere is this more realized than in our dining experience. In 1955, the dining hall at St. Margaret’s was built in the basement level of Latané Hall. At that time, this facility, donated through the generosity of the Chesapeake Corporation of Virginia, was a premier girls’ school dining setting. This space, too, however--as well as the kitchen facilities--has remained virtually unchanged for over forty years and must be addressed if dining together as a community is to remain a center of the community building which strengthens character development and is a key point in our mission.
In addition, this unique campus makes us a natural choice for special events in our larger community. The proposed riverfront setting for the new Community/Technology Center would capitalize on our unique site. St. Margaret’s is receiving greater and greater use by the Tappahannock and Essex County community, as well as by alumnae, parents and the Episcopal Church. We feel this use is positive in that it better educates our larger community to the many benefits of St. Margaret’s, while also providing additional revenue to our operating budget. However, if we are to continue to attract this outside source of revenue, our dining facility must remain attractive and competitive with other locations.
Endowment
Faculty St. Margaret’s has prided herself on keeping an intimate faculty/student ratio where each teacher knows each girl not only in class, but also on the sports field, in the dining room, and in the dormitory. It takes a special person to fill this critical boarding school "in loco parentis" role. Special attention must be given to addressing the personal and financial needs of these talented individuals. Endowment to provide income for faculty salaries and benefits is vital to the success of St. Margaret’s as she approaches the new century.
Students Likewise, St. Margaret’s seeks to enroll students who aspire to make the best of themselves and in so doing, make a better world. Scholarship endowment serves our mission by making it possible for students to attend St. Margaret’s who might not otherwise be able to do so, and it provides St. Margaret’s with a well-qualified student body reflecting a broad social and economic mix.
Current Facilities Endowment is also necessary to preserve the existing white clapboard historic landmarks which have become the signature of this school, as well as maintaining newer structures. The original construction dates of St. Margaret’s hallowed halls range from the 18th to 20th centuries. If they are to continue to meet future needs, they must be lovingly preserved and maintained with income from a solid endowment.
In addition, as we consider the ongoing needs of the proposed new building, we must also be fiscally responsible and add to our endowment to provide for this building’s yearly maintenance.
Annual Support
Annual Fund St. Margaret’s traditionally has relied upon alumnae, parents, friends, and corporations to support the operating budget through the Annual Fund. That support will remain as critical as ever and, indeed, must grow during the life of the campaign. St. Margaret’s will be depending on increased support for the Annual Fund during this important effort.
Summary of Needs
Phase One
The Building Program $1,800,000For The Community/Technology Center on site of current science facility and relocated tennis courts
Named Gift Opportunities
Phase Two
The Endowment Program $500,000For New Construction Maintenance
Scholarship Support
Faculty Salary Support
Physical Plant Maintenance
Ongoing The Annual Fund Program $700,000
Providing for Current Operations Contributions Over Three Years
Capital Campaign Total: $3,000,000
