Campaign Reaches Fundraising Milestone
This summer, Berkeley celebrated a milestone for Above & Beyond: The Campaign for Berkeley Preparatory School by successfully raising the $20 million needed to complete Phase I of a multiphase campaign. The leadership and generosity of Berkeley families and friends resulted in the construction of new facilities and campus enhancements.
Berkeley Preparatory School has always been a place of significant accomplishment and growth. These accomplishments come in many forms and are a direct result of the exceptional people and programs that have made Berkeley extraordinary for more than 50 years. The school’s growth is a natural outcome of its many accomplishments and stands as a testament to the Berkeley experience that puts people in the world who make a positive difference. Today, you can witness Berkeley’s growth first-hand as the culmination of the first phase of a comprehensive campaign comes to a close and efforts to move forward with the next phase are already underway.
Berkeley Preparatory School has always been a place of significant accomplishment and growth. These accomplishments come in many forms and are a direct result of the exceptional people and programs that have made Berkeley extraordinary for more than 50 years. The school’s growth is a natural outcome of its many accomplishments and stands as a testament to the Berkeley experience that puts people in the world who make a positive difference. Today, you can witness Berkeley’s growth first-hand as the culmination of the first phase of a comprehensive campaign comes to a close and efforts to move forward with the next phase are already underway.
The key outcomes of this phase included the completion of the new Straz Family Field House (read more in Berkeley Summer 2012 Magazine) and the Quad and Clock Tower. The Clock Tower now stands as a landmark for students across generations. The Quad is an ideal place for alumni to gather when they return to campus for special events. In addition, the baseball/ softball complex has been enhanced with new varsity and middle division fields and a new baseball field house. Dickey Field has also been expanded to host varsity and middle division sports. Kuhn Field, the practice field behind Newman Stadium, will be complete in time for fall sports practices. Entry ways and access points have been added and improved to add to the campus functionality and beauty.
The Above & Beyond Campaign kicked off with an unprecedented gift when an anonymous donor gave a $10 million unrestricted gift. Others generously stepped forward to provide lead gifts that would make the goals of the Master Plan a reality. Berkeley is honored to be the recipient of leadership gifts from Gary and Margo Harrod, Greg '79 and Tracey Iglehart, Dan and Roz Doyle, Jason Kuhn, Susie Kuhn, Panos and Helen Vasiloudes, the Burton family, the Cantonis family, Stephen and Marsha Dickey, and several anonymous donors, all of whom were pioneer philanthropists and were among the first to make major commitments to the campaign. In addition, the Berkeley Faculty and Staff have gone above and beyond to support the campaign with an astounding 100 percent giving participation rate that collectively raised more than $250,000. The David A. Straz, Jr. Foundation gave a key gift to help Berkeley close in on its goal, and Dan and Roz Doyle made an additional gift to take the campaign across the finish line.
“From the outset, we knew that reaching the goals of the campaign would require unprecedented generosity and support from the entire Berkeley community,” said Laura Rowe Grams, Director of Berkeley’s Office of Institutional Advancement. “To raise $20 million is a significant accomplishment and it stands as a testament to the generosity and passion of our alumni, parents, board members, volunteers, faculty and staff, and friends. Their support shows how a community can come together to create a world-class learning environment.”
“We are honored to have donors who give with great purpose. There is an art to giving that so many in the Berkeley community embrace and for that we are grateful,” said Grams.
Berkeley Headmaster Joseph Seivold said, as we ask our students to go above and beyond, we must ask the same of the school itself. “A half century of enormous progress gives us the opportunity to lift Berkeley from a place of regional prominence into the ranks of the nation’s very finest independent day schools. At such a pivotal time in this remarkable school’s history, Above & Beyond is where generosity from those who care about Berkeley can take the school.”
These gifts are already at work for Berkeley’s students and faculty who benefit from having the very best facilities in which to train, compete, learn and perform. Every student, from Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12 will directly benefit when the vision of the Master Plan is realized. Furthermore, this first phase sets the stage for future phases that will create an “academic core” on the campus.
Through a generous gift from the Schaffel family, architectural plans are being designed for a new Arts & Sciences building for the next phase of the campaign. The Arts & Sciences building will be the signature achievement of Phase II of the campaign and will serve as a beacon for discovering new knowledge with an emphasis in math, science, and technology, as well as enhancing an already impressive fine arts program at Berkeley.
Through the vision set forth by the Master Plan and the Above & Beyond Campaign that facilitates that progress, much has already been accomplished and is evident throughout Berkeley’s campus. As the focus now shifts to enhancing the academic core and growing the endowment to sustain these efforts, Berkeley Preparatory School is well situated to accomplish new levels of excellence, further establishing its place among the very finest independent schools in the nation.
Berkeley Preparatory School
Founded in 1960, Berkeley is an independent, Episcopal, college-preparatory day school located in Tampa, FL, for boys and girls in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12. Approximately 1,400 students gather here from the greater Tampa Bay area to form ONE Berkeley.