Nation’s first girls’ secondary school surpasses $175 million goal ahead of schedule
Emma Willard School today announced it has raised $178.2 million to date in the largest campaign in the history of girls’ secondary schools. Infinite Horizon: The Campaign for Emma Willard School was publicly launched in May 2022 with a goal of $175 million raised by June 2026. The campaign was envisioned in response to an ambitious five-year strategic plan, Leading with Purpose, to strengthen Emma Willard’s long-standing commitment to girls’ education and empowerment. The school intends to continue fundraising for key needs still remaining in the strategic plan.
More than 3,000 alumnae, parents, faculty, staff, and friends have invested their philanthropy in Infinite Horizon. It is not only the largest fundraising initiative at Emma Willard; it is also the largest independent girls’ school campaign in American history.
“I am honored and grateful to stand beside all who have supported this unprecedented campaign as we work together to invest in future generations of strong, vibrant, and passionate Emma Willard students,” shared Megan Toohey Scremin ’00, chair of the Board of Trustees. “Through this effort, we not only honor and extend the legacy of Emma Hart Willard but also blaze a trail for other girls and women in this nation and around the globe.”
The Infinite Horizon campaign has helped Emma Willard achieve many of the initiatives outlined in its long-term plan. This includes increasing the school’s endowment to more than $200 million, more than doubling funding available for financial aid, raising faculty compensation to the top-quartile of peer schools nationwide, funding academic innovation and the launch of a unique Advanced Studies curriculum, creating the Starzinger Writing Center, and securing philanthropy to begin a two-phase faculty housing initiative on the Mount Ida campus.
One key element of the school’s strategic plan was an enhancement of the performing arts. This April will mark the grand opening of the school’s new Alice Dodge Wallace ’38 Center for the Performing Arts, a nearly 30,000-square-foot renovation and expansion of Emma Willard’s art facilities, funded by a $30 million lead gift to the campaign by Alice Dodge Wallace, an alumna and honorary trustee of the school until her passing in 2020. For project design, Emma Willard retained internationally renowned architect and historic preservationist Ann Beha and the firm she founded, Annum Architects of Boston, MA. The Wallace Center was constructed in partnership with fifth-generation family-owned Consigli Construction from their Albany, NY field office; Consigli will also manage the construction of Emma Willard’s new faculty housing.
“Together, through the inspirational investment of our own alumnae and friends like Alice Dodge Wallace, we have ensured this school will reach that bright horizon in front of us,” said Head of School Jenny Rao. “We will prepare future students to find their voice, to wrestle with new challenges, and to walk beyond these walls ready to serve and shape the world with confidence and conviction, just as Madame Willard did so many years ago with the founding of our school.”
At its Board of Trustees meeting on January 24, the school’s governing body celebrated the campaign’s extraordinary progress and endorsed the continuation of the campaign through its June 2026 final deadline. The Board recognized that there are several essential strategic initiatives that are not yet fully met. These include ongoing efforts to bolster financial aid for all students, the preservation and modernization of its historic and iconic campus architecture, innovation in its experiential learning curriculum, integration of science and technology in the classroom, a wellness center that will research best practices in adolescent girls’ wellbeing, and the annual Emma Fund.
Infinite Horizon is led by volunteer co-chairs and Trustees Wendy Graham ’85 and Linda Gill Anderson ’77, and honorary co-chairs, Trustee Susie Hunter ’68 and Honorary Trustee Vicky Thompson Winterer ’61, along with a robust committee of other alumnae and staff volunteers who have helped unify and strengthen a vision for the future of Emma Willard School.
“Our aspirations and needs extend beyond our campaign goals, and we will continue this good work of funding the future for our students and teachers who are experiencing the impact already,” explained Wendy. “Thank you to all who have strengthened our school through pledges of support; your ongoing philanthropy is needed now more than ever to sustain our school!”
For more information on Infinite Horizon: The Campaign for Emma Willard School please visit: infinitehorizon.org
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