Mission Statement
The Haldane School Foundation (HSF) is a non-profit 501(3) c organization that supports and expands the Haldane educational community with full cooperation from teachers, administrators and the Haldane Board of Education (BOE): By funding grants for programs, activities and resources that augment the School’s regular curriculum through collaborations between Haldane and local cultural, historical, scientific, educational, environmental and philanthropic organizations and by creating partnerships between Haldane and other schools.

Benefits of Supporting the Haldane School Foundation
You will directly effect the education of the entire student population of Haldane in a dramatic way by enriching the students’ curriculum. In 2008, the Foundation distributed over $64,000 to fund programs, equipment and supplies requested for every grade. No other school organization makes such a large impact on every student in our district.

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Board Members
Members of the Haldane community are invited to join the HSF Board because they are capable of helping the organization complete its mission. The board consists of a variety of people with different strengths and skills that allow the board to function effectively as a team. New board members are often selected because they have a specific skill that the Foundation needs. In addition, individuals are sought out because the current board members believe they are ready to commit their time and resources. Board members are elected for a two-year term. HSF is for people of action that want to make a difference purely for the satisfaction of knowing that they made it happen.

Although each person is invited to join the board based on a particular strength or skill, all board members are expected to do the following:

• Attend at least two thirds of the monthly board meetings. Meetings are usually held on a weekday evening
(currently the second Tuesday of the month) and typically run for one and a half hours to two hours, starting at 7:00 pm
• Actively participate in the organization and execution four major fundraising events per year: the Snow Ball, End of Year Appeal, Fall Fundraiser, and one other smaller event
• Serve on at least one committee
• Procure donations for the charity auction at the fundraising events

Being a board member is not an honorary title. It’s about working very hard to make Haldane education better for all students.

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Committees
Grants Committee: HSF issues about 30 grants each year. These are the grants that the Foundation funds to augment the standard curriculum. Examples include: author visits, class field trips, special classroom equipment, and extensive art and music projects. Grant Committee members are responsible for overseeing the grant process, updating applications and distributing to school and webmaster, collecting and distributing completed applications and setting meetings to discuss proposed grants. The Committee reviews and critiques grant applications, and attend meetings to decide what grant proposals will be recommended to the Haldane School Foundation.

HELP Committee: HELP or Haldane/Hudson Environmental Learning Program, is a voluntary one-week summer training program for K-12 Haldane teachers fully sponsored by the Haldane School Foundation. The mission of HELP is to make the Hudson River an integral part of the Haldane educational experience. By exposing Haldane teachers to a series of river related mini-courses and hands-on activities, HELP encourages them to find ways to make the Hudson River part of their classroom activities. At the end of the session, usually attended by about 20 teachers, all the attendees complete formal course curriculums which are then integrated into the classroom during the following year. HELP Committee Members work on the organization and curriculum development for the annual program.

Nominating Committee: Identifies candidates for open positions on the HSF board and makes recommendations to the board regarding nominees.

Events Committees: Individual committees are set up to run each of the events sponsored by the HSF each year. While everyone gets involved in the Snow Ball, smaller groups manage and run the other events.

Fundraising Committee: This group oversees the fundraising activities, manages the donor database, and executes all the direct fundraising appeals (mailings).

Communications/Marketing Committee: Handles public relations activities, design of HSF literature, oversee all printed materials. Technology Committee: Reviews major technology grants, primarily mobile computer lab. Advises board on other major technology initiatives. Finance Committee: Reviews financial activities of the HSF to insure compliance with federal and state regulations. Prepares financial statements for review at board meetings.

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Thank you for considering devoting some of your time to the HSF. We love what we do on the HSF, and we think you will too!