Berkshire Country Day School in Stockbridge, Massachusetts has raised $3.2 million from capital campaign contributions to fund the opening of a new library and learning center, and music performance hall.
The private preschool through grade 9 school’s recent capital campaign, launched in December 2015, has reached its $3.2 million goal to support the facilities upgrade.
Berkshire Country Day’s Head of School Paul Lindenmaier says the two new spaces – the Kevin Hirt Library and Learning Commons, and the Kim and James Taylor Music/Performance Room – were completed without taking on any debt.
“In addition, the campaign has benefited our endowment and many donors very enthusiastically contributed to a special endowment for faculty salaries so that we can continue to attract and retain the talented group of teachers we have here at BCD,” Lindenmaier says.
Lindenmaier says the funds will expand the school’s long list of dynamic extracurricular activities and character-building that the school community cherishes.
Hilary Dunne Ferrone, the co-chair of the capital campaign, and also a WAMC commentator who discusses philanthropy, says the school drew from more than 400 individual donors and community partners.
“I like to say and I truly believe that while we have some phenomenally generous donors, everyone is a generous donor in their own way and I think that is the essence of this campaign in that everyone matters,” Dunne Ferrone says. “If your child goes to school here or went to school here, you are part of the fabric of Berkshire Country Day and you are part of the reason why we are successful in our fundraising.”
But, Dunne Ferrone says when it came down to the final dollar, it was the sense of community that mattered most.
“What I really loved about the campaign was that it just, it wasn’t just about the financial ramifications. It was really about coming together, acknowledging our fantastic faculty what they have done for us and our children through their professionalism and their caring education of our kids,” Dunne Ferrone says.
The new music performance room, donated by Kim and James Taylor, whose two children graduated from BCD last year, can hold up to 100 audience members, and is getting scouted by local entertainment groups for outside use and partnership.
Kevin Hirt, for whom the library is named, was a former student who died years ago of a rare pediatric cancer at age 10. Before his death, he asked his parents to donate his college fund money to help build a new library. Lindenmaier says the library and learning center is an open-space, multi-level hub that will boost the school’s academic curriculum and self-discovery.
