At the 2013 Annual Meeting in November, over 100 faculty, parents and members of the Board of Governors gathered to hear about the academic and fiscal state of the school and to learn more about the vision and plans for the coming year.

Board President, Mark Greenawalt, described the 2012-13 fiscal year as “Unquowa’s strongest year ever, by any measure.” His announcement that Sharon Lauer is completing her tenth year as Head of School and just signed a new five year contract was met with tremendous applause.

Treasurer, Karl Martone, received a standing ovation when he was introduced as the longest serving current member of the Board. He summarized the previous year’s finances, highlighting the strong enrollment and subsequent surplus that supported significant faculty bonuses, a new security system and steps towards paying down the school’s debt ahead of schedule.

UPA President, Marianna Erenhouse, thanked the parents for their efforts on behalf of the school and described the many social and programmatic enrichment activities the parents association supports each year. With a full year of activities, events and programs coming up, she encouraged parents to volunteer in both the classrooms and the broader Unquowa community.

Last year’s 2012 Annual Fund passed its $100,000 goal and had increased parent participation! Co- Chair of the 2012 and 2013 Annual Fund, Lisa Knopf, thanked everyone for their past support and announced that the 2013 Annual Fund has already raised over $84,000…after only six weeks!

Chair of The Campaign for Unquowa, Joan Panagos, announced our record breaking fund raising success for major campus improvements – over $1.6 million to date! The complete renovation of the dining room this summer, along with updates to the kitchen and the installation of the remaining fire sprinklers, will truly transform this central part of our school.

Finally, Sharon Lauer spoke about the thoughtful and intentional pace of innovation at Unquowa over the last ten years. She described the evolution of our Farm to Fork dining program, the expansion of our foreign language program to include Mandarin, our unique Museum Collaboration, the Progressive Education Lab (PEL) and this year’s mindfulness initiative as a few examples of programs that have evolved through collaborative efforts with faculty and parents.

She thanked the Board, parents and faculty for their dedication to the school and for being actively engaged members of our community of learners.