SERVING AGES 3-15

SUPPORT ABINTRA

Abintra Annual Fund
Giving Programs
Endowments
Abintra Blend: Coffee with a Cause
Sylvie Stewart Coin Drive

Abintra Annual Fund 

201-2012 ANNUAL FUND CHAIR:
Bob Bernstein

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Annual giving bridges the gap between tuition paid and the actual cost of educating a child at Abintra Montessori School. The Annual Fund provides for program enhancements, technology upgrades, professional development, and other resources that help Abintra fulfill its mission for each student.

Tuition covers approximately 90% of the costs of educating your child. The remaining 10% is generated by income from annual giving, endowment income, and other donations to the school throughout the year. Please lend a hand in bridging this critical gap. Every family is encouraged to make a tax-deductible gift to the Annual Fund. Your generous giving will ensure the success of our students, both in the classroom and beyond.

The size of your gift should be determined by your capacity and by your commitment to education at Abintra Montessori School. However, participation is the key. Each gift contributes to the ultimate success of the campaign. Cash, check, credit, and stock transfers are gladly accepted.

Giving Programs
The following are established giving programs at the school. Please call the office to pledge to any of these existing programs:

  • Tuition Assistance – Inspired by the initiative of Upper Elementary students in 1994-95 who donated $250 of their allowance money to begin this fund, our Tuition Assistance program since that time has assisted many students who otherwise would have been unable to attend Abintra because of familial financial circumstances.
  • Francie Beard Artist-in-Residence – Francie Beard, Abintra’s second executive director, laid the foundation for our current arts program. Contributions to this program are used to ensure that practicing, professional artists enrich the curriculum with visual and performing arts.

Abintra is honored to accept memorial or honorary gifts directed to one of its three endowment funds.

Endowments
Abintra is very proud of its three endowments (original net value of $600,000). The school receives income (5% of the endowment) per year to support these schoolwide programs. The stability and financial security of endowment income makes gifts to endowment a high priority at Abintra. A gift to an endowment is a gift in perpetuity. Please call the office to give to any of these existing programs or to establish an endowment:
  • Foreign Language Endowment – This endowment supports faculty positions in foreign language instruction.
  • Inclusion Endowment – This endowment, generously begun by the Louise Bullard Wallace Foundation, supports faculty positions for inclusion specialists.
  • Faculty Salary Enhancement Endowment – To attract and retain a quality faculty, Abintra enhances faculty salaries through this financially stable program.

Sylvie Stewart Coin Drive

The Sylvie Stewart Coin Drive is an annual effort organized and managed by students at Abintra. It is a memorial to Sylvie, who was diagnosed with cancer while a student at Abintra. The Coin Drive was started by her older brother, Will, who was also an Abintra student. 

For a period of about a month each year, Abintra students (and some adults) collect coins and bills- any loose change- to bring to school. The very concrete act of bringing coins to each classroom is a tangible way that the children learn about helping others. In the classrooms, the guides lead the students in discussions about meeting the fundamental needs of humans, from air and water, to shelter and food.

The original goal of the Sylvie Stewart Coin Drive was to help fund Tuition Assistance. In 2010, Upper Elementary students suggested the money collected be donated to Haitian Relief Efforts that resulted after the massive earthquake in January. The students were moved to contribute after learning that a Montessori School in Port-au-Prince was collecting funds to support a severely damaged orphanage nearby.