The Long View...
by Rebecca Bigler, Board President
I am delighted to begin my first term as President of the St. Francis School Board of Directors. St. Francis is a truly extraordinary school and I am honored to be able to work toward ensuring that it continues to serve its unique and valuable role in our community well into the future.
I want to begin by thanking all of those individuals who have served on the Board with me over the past five years for their service. They are an exceptionally talented and generous group of people. St. Francis is especially indebted to our Past President, Ruthie Robinson, for her superb work on behalf of the school. Under her leadership, the school completed work on the gym addition and the school now boasts a new classroom, storage room, attractive foyer, coaches’ office, male and female locker rooms, and concession stand. In addition, Ruthie was instrumental in helping to establish several endowed scholarship funds, which will help ensure the school’s long-term financial viability while also meeting its mission to maintain a diverse student body. Thank you, Ruthie, for your hard work, generosity, and good humor.
One of the primary goals for my term as President is to make substantial progress on the next phase of our school’s physical expansion. We are now working on plans to create more space dedicated to classroom and individual instruction. The school’s enrollment has grown over the last five years as a result of its increasingly strong reputation for excellence without exclusivity. We are in serious need of additional space and I will make our expansion a priority in the next two years.
With that expansion in mind, I am excited to work closely with our Development Director, Peggy Hanley. This year's Pinnacle Project campaign will begin shortly and our success in fundraising, both within and outside the school, will be vital to our expansion efforts. Peggy’s expertise and terrific personality will go a long way toward our success, but everyone’s participation in our fundraising efforts are needed. There are countless ways for our students, teachers, staff, and parents to be involved and I encourage you to participate in whatever capacity best suits you. Our fundraising efforts and physical expansion will further facilitate our mission to provide every St. Francis student with stellar educational opportunities.
I look forward to working with our wonderful St. Francis community and I wish all of you a happy and productive year.
Rebecca Bigler
