Introduction

Central to our mission is a commitment to maintaining the highest standards of Montessori education along the entire developmental continuum. This commitment requires the philanthropic support of our community on an ongoing basis, as this important work is never done.
We humbly ask that you continue to partner with us in sustaining this flagship school for Montessori education in the heart of the Napa Valley for generations to come.

Thank you for your continued assistance in carrying out this important work for our children.

Annual Fund

The Annual Fund – found at almost every private school in America today – is an opportunity for current parents, past parents, alumni, grandparents and friends to give unrestricted funds to the school. It allows contributors to reap the full benefit of tax-deductions for dollars donated. Unlike other fundraising initiatives, there is very little cost in running an Annual Fund, so a very high percentage of your gift will go directly to the school.

Support for the Annual Fund is more important than ever to help St. Helena Montessori maintain the beautiful new buildings and expansive grounds on our new campus.

100% of your charitable contribution is directed to operational expenditures of the school in the academic year it is given and all of your gift is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

This helps our Board of Directors keep tuitions more affordable than they would otherwise be. Every dollar donated before-taxes through the Annual Fund saves an after-tax tuition dollar for our current families.

The Annual Fund is also a chance for those who choose not to participate in Festa (our annual benefit auction), or who are unable to attend Festa, to support the needs of the school. This includes foundations, grandparents, alumni parents, alumni, and friends of the school. As a measure of success, many Foundations and Corporations look to parent participation in the Annual Fund as a benchmark for making grants.

Endowment

Since St. Helena Montessori School started we have vowed to provide our students with an education consistent with the highest standards of excellence. We have achieved this through our curriculum, our staff and now the added bonus of truly peerless facilities.

St. Helena Montessori’s Endowment Fund acts as a safeguard to maintain and protect what we have, as well as a springboard for future improvements. With this fund we will be able to guarantee that our school will continue to run smoothly and to plan for its growth and development. The Endowment Fund is used only with Board approval to not only safeguard our school, but also to allow us to take advantage of opportunities for improvement that may arise.

Festa Primavera

Festa Primavera is a unique celebratory occasion to benefit St. Helena Montessori. We are humbly grateful for the hard work, dedication and incredible generosity of our school families and especially our Napa Valley community at large, who tirelessly make this event monetarily successful year after year.

Festa Primavera is a wonderful opportunity to introduce extended family, friends and/or clients from in and out of town to our school community and surrounding vintners. Proceeds from this event, including silent and live auctions, are split among financial aid for deserving families, specific school operational expenditures and special “fund-a-need” items. In the past these need-based items have included the Endowment, the Activity Barn, the Primary Building, The Elementary Building and smaller capital investment needs.

The Building Our Home Campaign

Thanks to donations totaling over $6,500,000 to the Building Our Home campaign, we were able to finish the four Main Quad buildings, outdoor classrooms, play areas, the storage building, and related campus landscaping. Our Elementary students were able to begin the school year in their new purposefully designed Montessori environments in September of 2015!

We would like to especially recognize the Capital Campaign Cabinet who provided leadership for the Building Our Home Campaign with their tireless support and indispensable philanthropy:

David & Kary Duncan, Trevor & Kelly Foster, Mark Nelson & Dana Johnson, Dave & Kim Phinney

This monumental effort has left a great and lasting legacy: these buildings and the surrounding grounds will permanently house Montessori education in the Napa Valley on a flagship campus that will undoubtedly benefit families for generations to come. Thank you one and all!!!

Ways to Give
The most common type of outright gift to St. Helena Montessori is cash. However, for many potential donors, cash is a “scarce” commodity. In such cases, other forms of outright gifts should be considered. Outright gifts may be made using:

• Publicly-traded securities
• Closely-held stock
• Tangible personal property (including wine)
• Real estate
• Paid-up insurance policies
• Charitable lead trusts
• Accelerated withdrawal from retirement accounts
• Bequests
  To donate any of these items please contact Matthew Heil at matthew@sthms.org