Press Releases

March/April 2000

Dear Parents,

As you know the Board recently decided that the most prudent path to pursue is to work on opening a K-2 this fall instead of a K-8. There is still much to be done and we continue to move forward on a number of fronts so that the ISM will open its doors this September.

While there are no grand announcements to make at this point, I want you to know that we are steadfastly continuing to pursue obtaining our charter, securing a site and raising sufficient funds. I have come to appreciate that the amount of work it takes to create a new school is really quite humbling. Thoroughness, persistence and attention to detail are important on all fronts at this time. Being patient is a challenge for us all.

One arena which we can and need to begin to pursue more aggressively is fundraising. Our collateral materials are just about complete and Linda English, a member of our advisory board and head of development at Natividad, will be conducting training sessions in April & May. If you are interested in volunteering time in this capacity, your assistance will certainly be valued. If you don't feel that fundraising is your calling but you have ideas about potential donors, your ideas will be welcomed.

One item that Linda brought to my attention is that one of the first questions that donors will ask is what percentage of parents from our Charter Parent Association have contributed. To date only 12% have contributed. Believe me I recognize the uncertainties inherent in what we are undertaking and yet if we want to ask other individuals and organizations to take a leap of faith we need to demonstrate that we have taken this leap too. So if you have not contributed, this is a step you can take that will greatly assist in the fundraising effort.

To open a K-2 in September we need to raise $400,000. That sounds like quite a sum. If you consider that we still have $200,000 remaining of the matching donation, raising the necessary $200,000 seems much more doable. Ideally we need to raise this sum as quickly as possible so that when we have a thumbs up on the charter and a site, we can move as quickly as possible to hire teachers, do any necessary site renovations, order supplies, etc. I truly believe that the ISM has a program to offer that is unique and of value.

A quick note on the preschool: We plan to open June 12. Given parent feedback we realized that March was an awkward time to shift your children to a new program and that a core program alone did not meet the needs of enough parents. Chrissie recently sent out a survey requesting input from those with preschool age children in order to determine the hours of the program. If you have not responded, please do so ASAP so that we can set the preschool schedule and begin registering children.


Sincerely,
Kathryn Poling Krone
Managing Director

CHARTER

Kathryn made an informational presentation to the King City Board on April 5. All went well and the King City Board passed a unanimous motion to have ISM representatives return in early May to give a more in depth presentation. If all goes well, we hope to know if King City will host our charter by the end of May.

FUNDRAISING

In addition to Board members we are recruiting CPA members to join our Capital Campaign Committee. The time commitment is for a period of six months. During this time there will be a monthly committee meeting and in between times each member will be responsible for interacting with potential donors. Committee members will always have another team member available to join them on a donation call. Linda English, an Advisory Board member and head of development for Natividad will be conducting trainings for us this month. The first training will be held Tuesday March 25 from 7-9p.m. at CSUMB. If you are interested in attending, please contact Kathryn Poling Krone at 624-0648 for further details.

SITE

The Catholic Church on Stephens Way in Monterey: We are proceeding with developing the use permit which will be submitted in the next few weeks. We will definitely let you know when the public hearing is on this so that you can show up in person and voice your support!! This will be essential.

MPUSD: As we understand it will be actively seeking to lease space as part of their means of generating cash. The MPUSD committee in charge of this is just now getting organized and we will be submitting our request for space as soon as they are organized.

Pacific Grove David Avenue School: No new news here, we should know more in about a month.

PRESCHOOL

Licensing is currently reviewing our application and we hope to have a date for an on-site inspection for early May. We received approval for our playground and fencing (with minor modifications) from the Architectural Review Committee. So one weekend very soon we will be looking for volunteers to assist with installing the fencing and playground.

We have now set our opening date for June 12. As soon as we get the survey input back from parents, we will determine the preschools hours of operation and get that information out to you. We are planning to have an open house sometime around mid-May so that parents who have not had the opportunity to meet Esther can do so and we can discuss curriculum and the role of parents in the educational process. We will post the date and time of the open house on the web-site.

Junior Golf Tournament Time Again

It's that time of year again, where ISM is helping to sponsor the Monterey County Junior Golf Championship. The tournament will be held July 24-26th at the Bayonet/Blackhorse/Monterey Pines Golf Courses. The tournament is open to approximately 150 boys & girls, aged 7-17. The entry fee is $30 and the deadline for entries is 7/10/00. ISM will again be sponsoring 20 less priveleged children to participate. For more information visit the JGANC website - www.jganc.org or call 425-0367.

CPA Easter Social

The Social Events committee organized a great Easter potluck on April 8th at Indian Village in Pebble Beach. The weather played along well and we had a nice variety of dishes to choose from. The kids even went on an Easter Egg hunt (good practice for 2 weeks later!). Everyone who came was able to meet with other parents and get the most up-to-date news on the progress of ISM. Thanks to the Social Events committee - Nancy Torres, Najoo Ruediger, Mary Jane Buddenberg, Shirley Dickinson, and everyone else who helped in putting together this event. We hope to see even more people attend the next one!