SIA returned from Winter Break to a whole school Spirit Week from January 5th through 8th, culminating in the Day of Giving on January 8th hoping to inspire parents to participate in the school’s annual donor fund (ADF) reflecting the power of community.
Spirit Week was the brainchild of SIA’s Parent Volunteer Committee and Student Government Association to highlight this important week of Giving. Students and faculty dressed up in different outfits each day, gaining momentum for parents to join together to raise necessary dollars to meet SIA’s 2020-2021 Annual Donor Fund goals.
Spirit week kicked off on Tuesday, January 5 with a crazy sock day. Some students wore blue and pink mismatched socks while others borrowed from their parent’s drawer and wore dress socks high up past their knees.
Wednesday’s “spirit wear” continued with a Sports Jersey Day. Even though you could see students wearing a mix of Jerseys from around the world, such as the Orioles, Maccabi Haifa Soccer, and ODU Basketball, our SIA students are all on the same team when it comes to their love for SIA.
As we all wished for peace and an end to the pandemic in 2021, students rocked their Tie Dyed t-shirts, socks, and even masks on Thursday!
Friday everyone donned their favorite silly or serious hats as a hats off and thank you to all of our families participating in our Spirit week.
After a week of excitement and community, Spirit Week culminated on Friday, January 8 with SIA’s first ever Day of Giving. SIA’s Spirit Week had a record breaking 77% parent participation to the annual donor fund, and raised almost $20,000. Many of our families shared the wonderful and inspiring reasons that they choose to make an annual gift to the Strelitz International Academy.
Amy and Eliot Weinstein, parents of Avi in Kindergarten and Daniella in the Early Years program, said: “no matter the amount of tuition we can pay, or how much we can give the Annual Donor Fund in any given year, we feel it’s important to be counted amongst those families investing in the future of SIA. Our gift is our extra investment in our kids, their classmates, their teachers, the unique education and excellent programs. We are so grateful for the opportunity to be part of the SIA family, and we want to pay it forward.”
SIA raises money each year through its Annual Donor Fund that benefits the school in many ways such as supporting its flexible tuition program, to reduce tuition to meet the unique needs and circumstances for each individual family; bridging the gap between operating costs and SIA’s tuition revenue, which allows the school to keep tuition costs low; and supporting advancement and staff development towards International BaccalaureateⓇ accreditation.
Strelitz International Academy thanks all of its current families for their continual support and trust enabling our school to provide a safe and nurturing environment, Jewish ethics and values, and advanced academic standards as a candidate school for the International BaccalaureateⓇ Primary Years program. SIA looks forward to continuing Spirit Week and the Day of Giving next year as a new annual tradition.
