Did you know that Master’s has a new Advancement Program? You might be asking yourself, What is advancement? These 10 points will give you the low-down.
- Advancement is key to the growth and sustainability of an academic institution: Advancement is a term given to a unified and coordinated effort by an academic institution to fund development, alumni relations, communications, and school admissions. Great academic institutions typically have strong advancement programs.
- Master’s has an Advancement Department: Master’s has a vision to foster the creative and imaginative faculties of every student—not just locally, but also globally. Bringing our vision to fruition requires resources beyond society fees, such as voluntarism and philanthropic giving. To this end, in 2017 we launched our Advancement Program and corresponding Advancement Department.
- The Advancement Department is made up of a core team:
- Tom Rudmik (Founder and Imaginal Leader of Master’s),
- Jeff Graham (Advancement Director and parent of three children at Master’s),
- Rachel Primeau (Social Media and Advancement Coordinator and alumna of Master’s), and
- Ross Marsh (Advancement Consultant and parent of two children at Master’s).
In collaboration with the Advancement Department is a primary support team:
- Paul Graham (Chief Operations Officer),
- David Crisp (Creative Director), and
- Alexander McInnis (Video Director)
- The purpose of the Advancement Program is to generate exceptional academic outcomes for all students: Advancement is the capacity to align vision with the resources that will help achieve the vision. Advancement therefore serves the vision of Master’s as its only agenda. We have a big vision here at Master’s, which is why the Advancement Program is so important.
- Advancement is about building resources and capacity: Advancement at Master’s will cultivate and encourage resources such as voluntarism, alumni initiatives, and philanthropic giving.
- Advancement will fund the facilities and tools that will elevate and accelerate student learning: Environment is a critical part of learning. It is often called the “third teacher” after parents and teachers. When state of the art spaces and learning tools are available to enhance the teaching/learning experience, the full power of Profound Learning can be unleashed. One of the missions of the Advancement Program is to raise funds for the facilities and tools that foster creativity, collaboration, and academic excellence.
- Master’s will officially launch The Imaginal Campaign in Fall 2019: Master’s is planning to build a new high school wing in the College, as well as expand and improve other learning environments, particularly in the kindergarten and middle school. As well, we are planning major additions to junior high and senior high learning spaces as part of a new high school wing added to the second floor of the College. The additional spaces include:
- 10 additional learning spaces that foster our focus on academic excellence, including six in the high school addition and three new grade 5 classrooms,
- New Academy and College music studios,
- An MIT FabLab, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Cinema lab with theatrical, movie production, and film studies spaces,
- Workout and wellness/fitness studio,
- High school student lounge,
- The Imaginal Lab of the Future that will foster Imaginal Leaders and accommodate our Imaginal Design Program.
- Society fees only cover operations, not new and improved spaces and tools: Great academic institutions know that vision cannot be realized through fees alone—that fees merely cover operation expenses and not improvements to facilities. New learning spaces that enhance student learning, furnished with purposeful tools and resources, require significant dollars beyond covering operational costs.
- Advancement means community: It takes a community to advance a vision, and therefore advancing our vision and building community go hand in hand. The leadership of Master’s, the parent committee, faculty, students, parents, and alumni are all part of advancing the vision of Master’s. We want to create a greater level of community here at Master’s, which will help us grow and sustain our enrolment. People want to be a part of a community they feel well-connected to and proud of. Advancement is part of that community-building practice.
- You can give in many different ways: Master’s is a registered charity, and thus all gifts to Master’s are tax deductible. Donors can make an unrestricted gift, or direct their giving to a number of different projects and options within our giving program. You can give by cheque, credit card, automatic debits, gifts of securities and other ways too! In the next few months you can find out more about our Advancement Program by:
- Visiting the Master’s website
- Staying tuned for occasional updates by email and social media
- In April there will be a mailing to all families about the program and about the many options people have to support Master’s as donors, volunteers or both!