The Make A Difference Campaign began in January 2014 with a seven-year timeline and an overall goal of $35 million.  The original campaign included a $17 million goal for three Capital Projects, including the two Faculty Townhouses, the Pohanka Fine Arts Center, and the Turner Athletic Center. The campaign also sought to raise $10 million for the endowment, and $8 million for the Annual Fund.

Due to the overwhelming generosity of more than 2,500 donors, and despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the initial goal of the campaign was realized by December of 2021. Many, many thanks to everyone who participated in Making A Difference in the lives of every Saint James student and faculty member!

However, there is work left to be done. Due to circumstances resulting from the pandemic, the cost to build the Turner Athletic Center has increased substantially. The School’s admissions outlook is strong, but increasing interest in boarding has prompted a need for more dormitory space. The Board of Trustees has also created a new endowment fund to celebrate Father Dunnan’s 30 years of service to the School.  

Therefore, the Make A Difference Campaign has been extended by two years, to December 2023. The Board of Trustees has approved plans for a new Boys’ Dormitory, a new budget for the Turner Athletic Center, and the Dunnan Fund for Financial Aid. These changes have resulted in an adjustment of the overall goal of the campaign to $50 million. It is the Board’s hope that the Saint James community will again rise to the challenge and Make A Difference!
 

About the Make a Difference Campaign

Saint James School has made a commitment to make a difference in the lives of our students. Through strategic planning and fundraising, we seek to expand and renovate the School’s facilities to meet the needs of our faculty and growing student body. A few of our goals include:

1. Continue a strong Annual Fund Giving program to meet our operating costs that are rising rapidly due to forces beyond our control. Meeting these expenses will allow us to continue the annual surpluses which we have used to pay for capital purchases and other campus improvements.
2. Complete the exciting new Turner Athletic Center. The site dedication was held during Alumni Weekend in April and groundbreaking is planned for early summer.
3. Build a new Boys' Dormitory occasioned by the strong post-COVID admissions picture. This new dorm will also allow re-designation of Onderdonk or Mattingly as a girls' dormitory, splitting the increase in beds between boys and girls. We will also gain much needed housing for three male teachers with two apartments and one townhouse with outside entrances.
4. Continue to strengthen our endowment which now has a balance of $35 million. This is impressive, but it is well below, even dramatically below, the endowments of comparable boarding schools, putting us at a competitive disadvantage in admissions and in faculty recruitment and retention, so this need cannot be ignored and must be addressed.

progress of the make a difference Campaign

 Together, we can MAKE A DIFFERENCE at Saint James