Focaannualreview2013 web

Friends of Chester ArthurElementary School

2013 Annual Report

A N O T E F R O M O U R P R E S I D E N T

Changes can often bring about uncertainty and concern. For the Friends of Chester Arthur (FoCA), 2013 was a year of change – however, it was full of changes that resulted in increased stability and positive momentum. We learned early in 2013 that Principal Musgrove, Arthur’s principal for more than 15 years, was going to retire. Rather than wait to see what would happen, we proactively reached out to the School District of Philadelphia to voice our desire to be involved with the selection process for the next principal. Under Superintendent Dr. William Hite’s leadership, we were granted a seat on the principal selection committee and played an integral role in the selection of our new principal, Ms. Kim Newman, who joined Arthur after more than six years at the Henry Houston School in Mount Airy.

At the same time we learned of Ms. Musgrove’s retirement, we also found out that a nearby neighborhood school – Walter G. Smith School – was slated to close. Some of its students, Hite’s plan instructed, would transition to Arthur. While many communities were voicing concern over bringing on new students from closed schools into their neighborhood schools, we took the opposite approach. Since it appeared that Smith’s closure was inevitable, we made it known to the District that we wanted to do everything possible to welcome the new students into the Arthur community with open arms. Seventy-nine children from Smith now attend Arthur, and it has been a smooth transition that will continue throughout the 2013-14 academic year.

Both of these changes only strengthened FoCA’s work and created a more cohesive community at Arthur. Amidst all of this change, we had our most successful year as an organization. We raised more than $250,000 for Arthur through grants, individual donations, and corporate support (some of which has not yet been dispersed, but will in future years). We fundraised for and built Phase 1a of the playground project, which includes benches, landscaping and shade trees around the recently completed playground structure. FoCA and Arthur formed more than a dozen new partnerships with organizations that include University of Pennsylvania, the Children’s Literacy Initiative, and OCF Realty, one of our local real estate developers and brokers. We held several fundraising and social events to benefit Arthur. We created and developed window stickers, brochures, fact sheets, newsletters and improved social media outreach to market Arthur to prospective parents. And, as a Board, we streamlined operations around our financial accounting, donation- and thank you note-generation, and insurance.

We are looking forward to maintaining this success in 2014 when we’ll continue to fundraise for during- and after-school programs, raise awareness about Arthur in the community, plan for the large, $2-million dollar-plus schoolyard and outdoor learning project for the rest of the asphalt lot behind Arthur, work closely with Principal Newman as she continues to strengthen the academic rigor at Arthur and grow our organization into a more e�cient and scalable model to help other neighborhoods learn how to support and invest in their neighborhood school.

None of this success would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our Board of Directors and, most importantly, without the incredible support we receive from our community. We’re very proud of the work that we do to help benefit our neighborhood school and we hope that you find this first annual review to be informative, thought-provoking and inspiring. If you would like to get involved, donate or have questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]. Best,

Ivy OleshPresident, Friends of Chester Arthur

P R E S I D E N T

Ivy Olesh

V I C E P R E S I D E N T & C H A I R O F P L A Y G R O U N D

C O M M I T T E E

Todd Kaufmann

T R E A S U R E R

Steven Zelinger

S E C R E T A R Y

Michael Burlando

P R I N C I P A L & E X - O F F I C I O D I R E C T O R

Kim Newman

C H A I R O F F U N D R A I S I N G

Leigh Botwinik

C H A I R O F L I T T L E F o C A & C O M M U N I T Y E V E N T S &

G R A P H I C D E S I G N E R

Deborah Katz

D I R E C T O R

Mina Mishrikey

Kevin Katz

A D V I S O R Y D I R E C T O R

Matthew Olesh

as of 12/31

Filled new & vacant board seats

Created structured committees & committee chairs from the board (Finance, Curriculum, Playground, Fundraising, Community Outreach and Events, Little Friends of Chester Arthur, and the Executive Committee)

Streamlined operations around financial reporting(QuickBooks, insurance, and donation thank you notes, etc.)

Became sales tax exempt

Served on the Principal Selection Committee to hire Kim Newman

Created a visioning committeewith Principal Newman to collectively strategize about long-term planning for the school and ways that FoCA can support that vision

Held multiple grant writing workshopsto educate our members to help us write grants

Formed an alliance of schools designing, fundraising for and building schoolyard parks like ours to leverage expertise, fundraising potential, etc.

Created branding & collateral materials to market the school including window stickers, brochures, fact sheets, business/calling cards, donation cards

Improved social media presence (facebook, twitter, pinterest), website updates and improvements, quarterly e-newsletter

Heavily marketed Little Friends of Chester Arthur our preschool-aged playgroup

New partnerships:Children’s Hopsital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, Drexel University, Greater Center City Neighborhood Schools Coalition, OCF Realty, OLIN, South of South Neighborhood Association (SOSNA), University of Pennsylvania, Wells Fargo Adopt-a-School, and many more

I N 2 0 1 3 , Friends of Chester Arthur...

$242,500Value of Grants

428Email Followers

324Facebook Likes

(143 New Likes in 2013)

5Grants Awarded

(Out of 7 Applications)

10Open houses, school fairs,

& info sessions

16Board & General Meetings

2 0 1 3 By the Numbers

F O C A Financials *January through December 2013

Grants **$ 2 4 2 , 5 0 0

Individual Support$ 7 , 5 8 7 . 0 5

Events$ 8 , 0 9 8 . 3 1

Corporate & Organizational Support

$ 4 , 7 5 0

Playground Phase 1a$ 2 6 , 6 0 3

School Expenses(Programs, Supplies, etc)$ 3 , 7 6 6 . 3 9

Operations(Filings, Insurance, etc)$ 1 , 5 3 1 . 9 1

Events$ 3 2 5 . 0 0

Marketing$ 2 6 7 . 6 8

- I N C O M E -

$ 2 6 2 , 9 3 5 . 3 6- E X P E N S E S -

$ 3 2 , 4 9 3 . 9 8*These financials reflect our

income and expenses for the

2013 calendar year and do not

account for projected spending

for the balance of the 2013/2014

academic year.

**We received a large grant

from the Water Department for

the large schoolyard project we

plan for future years. We

haven’t drawn down on the

grant money yet—it is included

because we are showing our

financials on an accrual basis.

F A C E B O O K

Facebook.com/FriendsOfChesterArthurT W I T T E R

@FoCA_PhillyE M A I L

[email protected] E B S I T E

www.FriendsofChesterArthur.org

Music EducationWeekly drum club and a partnership with Astral Artists

Neighborhood Bike Program

Won $2,500 “Safe Routes to School” Grant

Girls on the RunRunning Club

Playground & New PlantingsPhase 1a Complete!

Tutoring & MentoringDaily

Drama EducationPartnership with Walnut Street Theatre

Robotics ClubWeekly Meetup

Dance EducationBallet through a partnership with the Pennsylvania Ballet

Spelling Beefor 5th-8th grade

TechnologyImprovements & upgrades at Arthur

Penn CityStepWeekly performing arts education program through UPenn

Children’s Literacy Initiative

Kindergarten through 3rd Grade

M I S S I O N , C O R E V A L U E S , V I S I O N & O B J E C T I V E S

The Friends of Chester A. Arthur (FoCA) is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization, formed by

Southwest Center City parents and community members who are committed to partnering with

the sta�, teachers and students of our local school, Chester A. Arthur, in order to foster a robust

learning environment for our neighborhood children.

The Friends of Chester A. Arthur believes that a first-class education, within a safe school

setting, should be the right of every child in Philadelphia and the entire United States. We also

believe that such an education should be provided inherently and without reservations.

This group was formed as a means to help facilitate the involvement and support of community

members iving within and near the Chester A. Arthur School catchment. Our goal is to help

support current and future sta�, teachers, students and parents in their e�ort to create and

maintain a successful and safe school environment for all children who attend Chester A. Arthur.