Celebrating Success and Preparing for the Future

• Monitoring the impact of COVID has been a major focus for school leaders. Fortunately, our health and safety initiatives, administrative strategies, and school-wide support have kept our community’s numbers low.
• Sanford opened the year with 630 students—our highest enrollment in more than a decade. Enrollment for 2021–22 looks outstanding! We are operating with waitlists for several grades for the fall. Sanford families are sharing the buzz about their positive experiences with family, friends, and co-workers.
• We continue to engage in global conversations and issues. Recently, I wrote an Education Matters blog about the rise of anti-Asian hate, exclusion, and racism that is taking place throughout our country. Our commitment to providing a safe, respectful, and kind community is unwavering, as is our dedication to preparing students to face the challenges of our dynamic and diverse world.
• Warrior athletes continue to shine. Sophomore wrestler Justin Griffith won a championship title, and senior Jason Lamey brought home a second-place trophy in the DIAA state wrestling tournament. In the DIAA basketball tournament, the boys’ team won Sanford’s tenth state title, and the girls’ team finished in second place.
• Sanford’s Summer Enrichment Program is more robust than ever. Christine DiUbaldo, director of summer enrichment programs, has built a stellar lineup of courses to keep learners of all ages engaged. Sanford Day Camp, which has served the community for more than 30 years, is in preparation mode to deliver a ten-week program on our beautiful campus this summer.
• More than 200 donors supported our Do More 24 effort, which raised $60,000 in gifts for our Annual Fund. If you have not had a chance to give yet, you can do so here. Support from all members of our community is welcomed and appreciated. This year, we are shooting for parent participation of 90% in honor of Sanford’s 90th anniversary.

Speaking of fundraising, Sanford has raised $2.7M since December for future capital improvement projects. $2.2M in gifts has already been given or pledged to support our $5M STEM Center project. Work will begin on renovating the Nancy C. Sawin Math/Science Center after the completion of additional fundraising initiatives. Stay tuned to future communications for more news about this exciting project. Sanford alumni parents and current grandparents Mike and Nancy Pia recently made a generous gift to renovate our art building, Hebb Hall. Work on Hebb will begin in the coming months, with plans to reopen Hebb in January of 2022. We are grateful to the donors who continue to invest in Sanford’s program and our school’s future.
 
In what has been a tough year in so many ways, there are both bright spots to celebrate and some glorious light at the end of the tunnel. This spring, I cannot wait to see parents at home sporting events. Similarly, we look forward to hosting a COVID-friendly prom for our seniors and juniors and graduating our class of 2021.

As we look back on the year, I hope you share with pride how Sanford responded as a community during COVID. Together, we made this year a success. I’m also thrilled that our planning for 2021–22 and beyond is looking even brighter. As we look forward, I hope you share in the excitement of what the future holds for our very special school community.