Giving
Campaign for Excellence & Access
Together, our community has created remarkable momentum and there’s still time to be part of what comes next.
For more than 40 years, Open Window School has been shaped by families who believed gifted learners deserved a nurturing and inspiring educational experience, built around who they are and what they're capable of.
Where We Stand
What our community has accomplished so far:
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$7M+ raised to support our school, including:
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A newly-opened K-8 library and lower school visual arts studio, which was completed on-time, and on-budget
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$2.1M+ raised for the Jean R. Augustine Financial Aid Endowment
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$300K+ raised for the Wilder Dominick Professional Development Endowment
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More than 120 families have already made a gift
We are inviting everyone who has been impacted by Open Window School to join those who have already said yes. Participation matters. Every gift, at every level, moves us closer to something we can all point to and say: we did that together.
What We're Building Together
Walk through campus this spring and you will see what this community has already made possible.
Our new K–8 library opened this April at the heart of campus. A purpose-built art room, a brand new lower school multipurpose room, a fully renovated middle school multipurpose room, reimagined outdoor spaces, and new instructional space are opening in Fall 2026.
Alongside the physical transformation, the campaign funds two permanent endowments built to ensure that what makes Open Window exceptional continues, regardless of what any single year's budget allows.
Campus Improvements
The new Paulus Library opened this April and serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade. It is a space built for collaboration and imagination, thoughtfully designed for our students.
The beautiful new sandpit in the heart of our campus is now open to students, and is 73% larger than the previous one! This allows for more space for play and curiousity.
A brand new outdoor plaza has also opened between Heckerman and Robinson Hall. A dedicated stage makes the space a natural extension of the classroom, perfect for outdoor learning, performances, and community gatherings.
The beautiful new sandpit in the heart of our campus is now open to students, and is 73% larger than the previous one! This allows for more space for play and curiousity.
A brand new outdoor plaza has also opened between Heckerman and Robinson Hall. A dedicated stage makes the space a natural extension of the classroom, perfect for outdoor learning, performances, and community gatherings.
A purpose-built lower school art room will welcome students next school year, giving them a dedicated space designed entirely around how they create. And this summer, we are putting every square foot of campus to better use. The former library will become a dedicated lower school multipurpose room. The middle school multipurpose room will recieve a full renovation. With lower School art in its new home, the classroom it previously occupied will open up as dedicated middle school instructional space.
The landscaping around the new library and art room has been fully redone, with new trees and a sandpit giving students more ways to engage with the outdoors. And in a detail we love: rocks displaced during construction have been repurposed into the new landscaping.
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Wilder Dominick Professional Development Endowment
The Wilder Dominick Professional Development Endowment ensures that every teacher at Open Window has access to meaningful professional growth, now and for every generation of students to come. When we invest in our teachers, they bring that growth back into every classroom, every day. Think about the teacher who changed something for your child. Someone invested in them. This endowment means we do that for every teacher, going forward, permanently.
The Jean R. Augustine Financial Aid Endowment
An Open Window education should not be determined by what a family can afford.
The Jean R. Augustine Financial Aid Endowment makes access to this school, this community, and this education possible for gifted learners regardless of their family's financial circumstances.
Last year, an anonymous foundation challenged our community to raise $1 million toward this endowment. Our community met that challenge, and then some. The result: more than $2.1 million invested in financial aid endowment.
The Donor Wall
Every campaign donor will be permanently recognized; their name inscribed on a "book" lining the exterior of the new library. This will be a permanent part of the building itself, visible to everyone who walks this campus for decades to come.
We are so grateful for the 120+ families and alumni, and 70+ faculty and staff who have supported this campaign so far. We could not have made the progress that we have without your generosity and support.
Below is a first look at the permanent donor wall that will be installed outside of the Paulus Library.
We are so grateful for the 120+ families and alumni, and 70+ faculty and staff who have supported this campaign so far. We could not have made the progress that we have without your generosity and support.
Below is a first look at the permanent donor wall that will be installed outside of the Paulus Library.
There's still time to get involved!
List of 1 members.
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Elizabeth Welden-Smith
Director of Institutional Advancement & Strategy
Questions?
Reach out at elizabethw@ows.org
There's still time to get involved!
List of 1 members.
-
Elizabeth Welden-Smith
Director of Institutional Advancement & Strategy
Get in touch:
Reach out at elizabethw@ows.org
Open Window School
Open Window School provides a challenging academic curriculum blended with nurturing support from teachers that prepares students for long-term success.
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