Dear Friends,
We hope this message finds you well and that your summer is off to a great start. As we wrap up the 2019-2020 school year, we are finding ourselves making calls, writing notes, and simply reaching out to say thank you! Thank you to our community who has supported the Belmont Day mission and values during this unprecedented time. Without a doubt, we could not have overcome our recent challenges—and achieved what we've been able to do—without all of you. We hope you enjoy this third special edition e-newsletter and join us in celebrating a unique yet successful year!
With much appreciation,
Pati, Beth, and Andy
Development Staff Updates
Farewell, Beth and Andy!
This month, we bid farewell to Andy Rentschler and Beth Sousa from our development team. Their hard work, dedication, and love for Belmont Day is undeniable. We want to thank them for their contributions and many accomplishments while here at Belmont Day. Today, because of Andy and Beth, our development efforts have a greater impact on our school’s growth and sustainability. We are so grateful for the many years of service they have provided our community, and we wish them both luck in their next endeavors!
Nina See joins BDS as Director of the Annual Fund
Nina See will join Belmont Day this fall as Director of the Annual Fund. Nina has ten years of relationship, project management, and event planning experience in both the non-profit and corporate sectors, with the past four years in a fundraising role. Nina joins us from Lahey Hospital & Medical Center's philanthropy department, where she works with leadership and volunteer boards and handles a fundraising portfolio. We are excited to welcome Nina to the development team!
Annual Fund Updates
New Giving Platform Available
We are excited to introduce GiveButter, a new fundraising platform that allows you to make your gift through Venmo, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Paypal. Click here to donate in seconds!
What a successful year it has been, even amidst all of the known challenges over the last few months. Thank you for your generosity! The support of our donors has been the foundation of the school’s growth and sustainability, both in the best and in the most uncertain of times. This year we hit an Annual Fund record, raising approximately $700,000 to date. The support of over 400 donors allows for Belmont Day continue to enrich the school and lives of our students in their pursuit of our mission—to foster intellectual curiosity, honor differences, and empower meaningful contribution with excellence, respect, honesty, responsibility, caring, and joy—so that they may be the future leaders that our world so greatly needs.
There is still time to make your impact!
Now more than ever, we seek your contribution to the Belmont Day Annual Fund to continue to support our students and faculty. Your gift will not only allow our community to navigate the financial challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will also maintain the school's essential operations and support Belmont Day’s faculty and staff with resources and training throughout the duration of this unprecedented challenge. Click here to give online, or mail your check by June 30.
End-of-Year Car Parade
Community celebrations were certainly interrupted by the current health crisis. However, with a little creativity and lots of cheers, our families, students, faculty, and staff were able to celebrate together at our family car parade on campus. Check out our photo gallery to see all of the smiling faces, and impressively decorated cars, from throughout the afternoon!
Congratulations, Class of 2020!
Joined by families, faculty, friends, and of course, the Class of 2020, we celebrated our newest group of alumni with a virtual graduation ceremony on Friday, June 12! The program included remarks from Head of School Brendan Largay, Middle School Head Liz Gray, as well as three outstanding student speeches, before the graduates received their diplomas. We encourage you to visit our Class of 2020 website and enjoy photos, video tributes, and more. You will also find recordings of the full virtual ceremony, as well as individual elements of the celebration (student speeches, musical performances, etc.). Congratulations again, Class of 2020!
Top: screenshot from the virtual ceremony, Bottom: a tribute to the Class of 2020
Above: members of the Class of 2015 reconnecting in the Barn.
Alumni Highlights
This week's featured alumni have each received praise for their work in the film industry, both in acting and producing! Be sure to visit the Alumni Highlights page on the website, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram, to hear from many more voices among our alumni network. And when you have any alumni news of your own to share, please send it to Andy Rentschler, Director of Alumni, at arentschler@belmontday.org.
Steve Wilson '01
KINGS is a powerful short film that follows rookie African American police officer Brandon Billips (played by Steve Wilson '01) on his first night upon being sworn into the Oakland Police Department. Before long, he's faced with difficult choices as his veteran partner starts to abuse the power of his badge, putting his life, and the lives of others, in danger. The film was released in 2019, but has gained attention recently due to its topical, compelling theme.
Note: this film includes graphic language.
Charles Pinck '76
Charles Pinck '76, President of the OSS Society, recently produced a short film about D-Day, titled “Operation Overlord: OSS and the Battle for France.” The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a wartime intelligence agency of the United States during World War II, and a predecessor to the CIA. The film tells the story of allied special forces whose daring exploits changed the course of World War II. The film won a pair of awards—Best Mini Movie Historical Documentary, and Best Filmmaker Mini Movie—at the 2019 Palm Beach International Film Festival.
Alumni Giving Update
We're so close to our goal!
It has been another record year for our alumni giving program. To date, we've received more donations to the Annual Fund than ever before! We're closing in on our goal of 105 donors, and we're calling on all of you to show your school spirit and support alumni giving at Belmont Day.
Donate by clicking here, which features an option to use Venmo, Apple Pay, or PayPal through our new online giving platform at GiveButter. If you have any questions, or perhaps would like to learn more about annual giving options at BDS, please feel free to contact Andy Rentschler, Director of Alumni, at any time.
Thank You!
We hope you enjoyed this third edition of our Insider newsletter. Please stay connected—even just by reaching out to say hello—so we can keep in touch and hear from you! Thank you for all you do for Belmont Day.