Dear Rivers Community,
When we first laid out our strategic plan in 2015, and then publicly launched FutureMakers: The Campaign for Rivers in 2018, we were clear about what kind of vision we had for the future of Rivers. It was a bold vision, clear and unambiguous: we wanted to build stunning academic spaces for state-of-the-art learning; we wanted to create new academic and extracurricular programming and enhance support for our faculty; and we wanted to grow our financial aid pool so that we could widen the circle of families gaining access to all Rivers has to offer.
These three strategic pillars are still our clear, guiding principles. In these past few years, we have accomplished so much, yet we still have additional projects underway and one year remaining in FutureMakers. Together, we have raised just over $54 million since we started the work of FutureMakers. In that time, we have opened The Revers Center for Science and Visual Arts and have mapped out exciting plans for the Middle School and the remaining academic spaces on campus. We have opened three new turf fields, and we have refurbished our Black Box theater. We have established The Center for Community and Civic Engagement, and we have started stewarding several new financial aid endowment funds that will help us provide assistance to families who otherwise could not afford to be at Rivers. Equally important, The Rivers Fund has taken on a larger role in engaging alumni in our ongoing work and in supporting important student programs.
We are excited about all we have accomplished thus far, and I am deeply grateful for the generosity and enthusiasm of the Rivers community. But there is one thing that has become clear to us as a result of recent events—namely, that we have more to do. Between the economic hardships that have been foisted on us by the COVID-19 pandemic and the calls for racial justice and equity that have grown more urgent within and outside of our community, it is clear that the challenges facing our school are multiplying; the moral and ethical obligations we have to meet those challenges lie squarely on our shoulders.
None of this changes the clarity of our vision for Rivers or our recognition of the fact that the only way we will be able to achieve that vision is if we lean into the work together as a community.
FutureMakers was chosen as the name for this campaign because it recognizes that every member of the Rivers community plays a fundamental role in shaping what the future can be.
Rivers students go on to lead lives of meaning and influence, transforming their communities and shaping the world according to the strong ideals that Rivers helps them cultivate.
Rivers teachers impact the future by guiding students to become the kind of skilled learners, confident leaders, and active citizens who are well-prepared to succeed in college and beyond.
YOU, our Rivers donors, provide the financial resources needed to offer a top-tier, transformational education to students who will go out and make the world a better place.
We deeply value the commitment all of you have already made to FutureMakers. Your generosity, along with the way you buoyed us during the emotional hardships of this past year, has made it clear what an incredible bond the current Rivers community shares. And though the year ahead will be characterized by new challenges and much uncertainty, I am comforted by the knowledge of who we are and what we are capable of accomplishing when we all work together. This is critical given the work we have to do on building a just curriculum and an equitable community, even as we have much-needed funds to raise for the essential reconstruction of Middle School spaces and for the development of the programs running within those spaces.
This FutureMakers campaign is about both what we have done together in the present and how we position our school and our students for the future. Thank you for being with us every step of the way and for staying with us as we move forward together to 2021.
Sincerely,
Ned Parsons
Head of School