Mind the Gap
A Message from Don Keller
Dear Sage Community,
As we further advance in our journey as a school community, I am writing to encourage you to again reflect on why your family made the move to Sage International School. There are possibly many reasons that can all be summed up in the desire for a different educational experience for your children. As with most parents (including myself) I imagine you were looking for an outstanding school - one that inspires your children daily by filling them with curiosity and wonder.
After a successful first year at Sage, I believe we have created the framework to be an outstanding school. We continue to have a clear vision around delivering a K-12 international, inquiry-based curriculum that cultivates intellectual rigor and curiosity. We have high-quality, motivated teachers and staff that are dedicated to continual professional development - directly correlating to our students’ academic achievement. We have a dedicated Board of Directors offering stable and insightful governance. And by definition we are a public school of choice, affording us the flexibility to efficiently make decisions that improve our school. Equally important, we have you, a deeply invested and caring parent community- your impact on our first year of operations cannot be stated strongly enough.
That said, the current national and state climate surrounding funding for public education has not improved much from last year. The necessity of investing in our child(ren)’s education to ensure its quality is a long term reality that as parents, we have to face together. This year there continues to be roughly a $475 per-student gap between the cost of educating an IB student at Sage International and the funding provided by the State of Idaho. This gap isn’t about bells and whistles and shiny things. This gap is about funding the components the Board and I deem necessary in creating learning environments and research-based curriculums that are as rigorous as they are stimulating and relevant. This gap is about giving our children an education in Idaho that prepares them to take their place in an ever-emerging global future. As with last year we are asking for your help to bridge this gap.
An annual investment of $475 breaks down to just $1.30 per day. You may spend far more on things that give you far less return than giving your child a world-class education. Without this additional funding Sage’s International Baccalaureate status, quality instruction & assessment and multidisciplinary arts programming will look quite differently. Sage International School will still be a good-enough school, but I don’t think that’s what any of us really want. You purposefully brought your children to Sage. You now have the opportunity to impact whether Sage is merely an “okay” school or the outstanding school we’ve been seeking.
The Sage Board, staff and I continue to do everything we can to make Sage an amazing place to learn. We need you too. We are not planning multiple fundraising events throughout the year – so the time is now. Please help by giving what you can today.
Sincerely,
Don Keller
Principal