Dear Flint Hill School Families,

Last weekend’s Winterfest was a huge success! It was billed as “historical.” It was talked about.  A video was even sent out with a countdown for the day. The Advancement staff and others associated with getting ready for this big day created a number of special events for our youngest Huskies. From several photo opportunities and custom paper dolls, to gourmet hot chocolate, more balloons than many of us have probably ever seen in one place, and plenty of food, it was intended to be a celebration! In fact, if you are like me, I am sure you were blown away by the feel, tone, and beauty of the Upper School building that night. And I’m sure you agree that the corndogs were probably the best corndogs you have ever eaten!

 

The Athletics Office even added a Freshman Boys’ Basketball game against St. Stephens and St. Agnes to round out the events for the day. In years past, Winterfest has focused on celebrating basketball and the winter season.  But this year, we had an added surprise planned — history was going to be made.

Well, we did make history on Saturday on a number of levels:

 

It clearly was a special night for Flint Hill and it lived up to its billing — it was historic! Founding Chairman Emeritus Til Hazel and former Board Chair Skip Coston were in attendance, along with hundreds of Flint Hill families who crowded into the Learning Commons to hear current Chair of the Board Rick Hendrix introduce the campaign with a video. As Rick noted after the video, we are “this close” to making this project a reality — as of Saturday’s announcement, we are only $3.9 million short of the $20 million dollar goal set by our Board of Trustees. But as parents in the video stated with passion “We can do this!” “We can do this together!” “We will make this happen!”

Let’s never lose sight of the fact that Flint Hill is a unique community. The passion, energy and pride that are so visible on both campuses, from all three divisions, and from each child and faculty member who are fortunate enough to be here, all of it, adds up to what many people refer to as added value. The relationships; balance; drive for excellence; innovation; and focus on making our educational approach dynamic, relevant and transformational; all are epitomized by this campaign. If you were there on Saturday night, you felt it! If you were not able to be there, I hope you will join us by watching the videos, getting a sense of what this new building will do for the entire Flint Hill School experience, and getting a feel for the energy that is vibrating across both campuses.

If you get a moment, please thank everyone who has been involved in making this campaign and special event possible:

  • Director of Institutional Advancement Meredith VanDuyne and the Advancement Team for leading the way on this entire campaign;
  • Jeannette Tavares ’06 and her event planning firm Evoke Design & Creative, who worked so closely with our staff to make Saturday night a special evening;
  • Director of Communications Angela Brown and the Communications and Marketing Office for all their behind the scenes work making this rollout a visual treat;
  • The Parents’ Association, which achieved record sales at the Igloo;
  • Sharon Giuliani, for making sure there was plenty of spiritwear on hand at the School Store; and
  • Assistant Head of School for Finance and Operations Anne Peterson our for all her leadership, attention to detail and energy!

It truly was a team effort! And let’s not forget to also thank the Athletics Office for bringing Winterfest to a whole new level and our amazing Facilities and Security personnel for making it all happen with patience and smiles. But above all, let’s be grateful for all the amazing people who have stepped up to support this campaign and to those who will keep this effort in the forefront of our thinking. Let’s cheer them all on as we cheer on our great school.

I look forward to 2019 being a historic year for Flint Hill for so many reasons. And clearly, Saturday marked one of the exciting new turning points in the history of our great school! GO HUSKIES!!

Best wishes to you!

Sincerely,

John M. Thomas
Headmaster