Your support enriched the lives of our students
Learn how
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we continued to enrich our students’ classroom experience by providing them with high quality supplies everywhere from the physics lab, to the art studio, to the music room, and funding training and development opportunities for their teachers to make sure they’re getting the best education possible.
Classroom experience
We sent our students all over the country and the world. National and international trips enrich their classroom education by giving them first-hand experiences based on their Main Lesson blocks; day trips throughout the city give our students access to Chicago’s incredible cultural and educational resources.
Trips and travel
We expanded our extracurricular programming to include Student Council, Circus Club, and Board Game Club, among others. We also grew our Athletics program, so that whether you’re an athlete or a fan, you can come together in the Waldorf spirit.
extra-
curriculars
Our award-winning Social Work services and Learning Support programming have been essential to student and community health. By growing our ability to serve diverse learning modalities and provide increasingly individualized plans for each student, we ensure that everyone at CWS can thrive.
STUDENT
SERVICES
We are strongest when our financial health is strongest. Donations to the Community Fund give us the foundation upon which to grow our community, programs, and offerings long-term. By reducing debt and building reserves, we can ensure that Waldorf education is a vital part of the Chicago school landscape for years to come.
FINANCIAL
SUSTAINABILITY
Donors
Below is a list of those who contributed to the 2023-2024 Community Fund campaign.
$125,000+
Kristin and Dan Hoffmann
$65,001-$125,000
Janae and Nick Gianou
$25,001-$65,000
Valerie Colis and Peter Livaditis
Nicole and Lawrence Disparti
Katie Palmer and John Leonard
CWS Holiday Fair
$10,001-$25,000
Melissa and Robert Gordon
Michelle Harrington and Jeffrey Dykstra
Dawn Hillman
Breanne Petersen and Matthew Eging
CWS May Fair
$5,001-$10,000
Montserrat Aguero and Hernan Sierra
Karen Anderson and Scott Resnick
Stephanie and Dana Arnett
Christine Hernandey Boras and Tom Boras
Deb Gohr and Michael Shapiro
Dana Hegedorn and Michael Berger
Susan Mudd and John Norquist
Michael Rosenthal
Anne Wagner
$1,001-$5,000
Anonymous
Patrick Barrett and Anthony Bellagamba
Martine Benmann and Ilya Levinson
Ellen and James Berger
Lara Blumstein and Joe Compean
Catherine and Lee Boyce
Carmine and Renate Cristiano
Bessie and Kyle Crum
Olivia Lopez Cury and Mariana Cury
Sylvie Desouches and Jacque Harper
Katherine and Patrick Dorsey
Colleen Everhart-Massie and David Massie
Katherine Gehl
Susan Giles and Jeffrey Carter
Taryn Goodge and Matthew Giniat
Tarah and Bret Hartung
Ethan Haslett
Joanna Hazelden and Christopher Sheridan
Caroline Hoke and Steven Waters
Patricia and Michael Holdrege
Shannon Holmes and Margaret Lower
Naomi Keller and Ngandu Kasuku
Alix and Eric Levine
Chanarnint and William Lovelady
Kristen and James Low
Lynette Lupia and John Robertson
Marielee Macapagal and Jacob Raibley
MassMutual Advisors Association on behalf of Bret and Tarah Hartung
Jessica and Thomas McCarthy
Sheila McMahon and Darragh Griffin
Judy and Thomas Meehan
Hanh Meyers
Microsoft Matching Gift
Morgan Stanley on behalf of Kristin and Dan Hoffmann
Mary and Michael Motyka
Deanna and Joe Mulherin
Althea Northage-Orr
Lisa and Jose Perez
Loren and Jerome Petersen
Gayle and Don Poelma
Chrystal Pozin
Laura Reischel and Chris Dimmick
Katherine and Gary Rogers
Bridgid and Kevin Rooney
Laura and Marlon St. John
Gia Schultz and David Grotto
Mary Spalding and Mark Lazar
Ginny Sykes and Jonathan Goldsmith
Barbara Wagner
Betty and Robert Wilhelmson
Molly Wretzky and Michael Langlois
Rushana Yagudina and Eugene Nemirovsky
$1-$1,000
Celeste and Dave Addyman
Alamo Shoes
Allegra Marketing
Joyce Amici
Anonymous
Gebremedhen Arkebe and Bayush Tekle
Gretchen and Ashirwaad Badami
Debra and David Barford
Camila Barraza and Arnoldo Lainez
Nicholas Barrios
Melissa and Zachary Bell
Christina Biedermann and Spencer Biel
Wolfgang Bientzle
Emily Biffis
Brandi Boseovski
Anna Braum and Louis Knapp
Taylor and Kuran Bricker
Lubica and Jeffrey Brink
Jennifer Bukovsky
Mollie Bunis and Peter Hartshorn
Ria Calderon and Craig Naish
Amy and Sandro Carra
Amy and Brian Case
Andrea and Brian Chadwick
Janet Chandler
Cheetah Gym Andersonville, LLC
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Karim Chlaghmo
Van and Cynthia Cho
CirquesExperience
Jen and Fraser Coffeen
Lisa Conforti and Will Lockwood
Kelly Connolly and Dave Palmer
Katie Costello and James Taylor
Lisa Courtley-Rekstad and Paul Rekstad
Christine and Douglas Culbert
Veronique Delemont and Walter Palka
Britni and Victor Deleon
Luis Diaz-Perez
Barbara and Michael Dillon
Laura Donkel
Christine and Denis Dowling
Patricia Erskine
Marita Espinosa and Nicholas Gourguechon
Megan Evans
Joseph Ferguson
Maria Fernanda and Ronald Wetzel
The Field Foundation of Illinois on behalf of Zoe Magierek
Fifth Third Bank on behalf of Chrystal Pozin
Barbara Figgins
Catherine Francis
Kirstin Franklin and Randolph Paulsen
Frances Franzke
Freund & Smith Advisors
Marrakesh and Todd Frugia
Theresa Fuchs
Ashley and Naaman Gambill
Peter Gatziolis
Gerda Ogletree Giving Fund
Jayden Giles-Carter
Alejandra Gonzalez-Alanis and Aleksander Banchs
Katie and Russ Gottwaldt
Kristen Gover
Melissa Greenwald
Laura Grenholm and Carlos Garcia
Gus Giordano Dance Studio
Jasmine and Ismar Hasanbegovic
Jared W. Haslett
Jone Hellesoy
Michelle and Gary Hunter
Stephen Jacobs
Heidi and Zachary Jacobson
Andrea Jancatova
Gail Jarrett and David Stenzel
Skyler Jarrett
Rocio Jimenez and Aaron Werner
Josee and Aaron Johnstun
Cynthia and Jean Joho
Gina and Ben Joslin
Reiko Kakuyama-Villaber and Randelle Villaber
Jasneet Kaur and Paarth Gupta
Nicole and Mark Khemmani
Adam King
Kristin Konrady and Patrick Sloan
Carolyn Kruse
Marissa Kuck
Jules Lazar
Sarah Lloyd and Leonard Goodman
Averi Lohss
Corinne Lohss
Karen and Mark Lohss
Nina Lombardo
Naomi Love and Jude Gonzales
Bridget Lozano
Cheryl Magiera
Zoe Magierek and Erik Williams
Roase Marir and James Hart
Dagmara and Filip Marona
Nancy and Alan Matson
Sarah Spencer Mattson and Chesley Spencer
Andrew May
Michael McCarthy
Tianna McClain
Margaret and Tom McGuire
Lisa Meehan
Ericka Meers and Andrew Starzynski
Kathryn and Nathan Mendes
Debra Moriarty
Rebecca Moskowitz
Ashley Muldoon
Brooke and Sean Muldoon
Cathy and Rob Murphy
Chelsea Blasko Muse and Jason Muse
Julie Napoleon
Claudia Nickson
Guy Nickson
Northern Trust Matching Gift Program
Siena Oliveri
Anna Palumbo and Jordan Atkins
Ryan Paulsen
Paws and Claws Cat Rescue
Wathurapatha Gayani Perera and Rebecca Coulter
Kim Perez and Joshua Collins
Colleen and Mike Plumb
Jill Pollack
Rathary Por
Nora and Tony Quartaro
Michael Rabinowitz
Sandra Ramirez and Jimmie Cumbie
Regenerative Social Finance
Rob Reid
Jenn Richards and Magda Houlberg
Barbara Richardson
Sarah Beth Rizzo
Jenna Rogers
Denise Roudebush
Marla and Paul Rubin
Mony Ruiz-Velasco and Denise Poloyac
Marcy Rumsfeld and Santiago Vaca
Rachel Russ and Steven Marx
Faye and Richard Ryan
Elizabeth St. Onge and Joseph Hill
Adriana and Marc Sandrolini
Kris Sangari
Erika Sarcinelli and Christian Garcia Scheer
Roberta Schmatz and Frank Verciglio
Christin and Danny Schroeter
Deidre and Alan Scott
Sue and Jason Seams
Carol Semrad
Andrea Shaffer
Kiah Shapiro
Andrea Shipp and Sharod Smith
Aaron Silverman
Bethany and Andrew Simmons
Lori and Wes Smedley
Alice Spaulding
Julia Spaulding Van Vliet
Susan Spaulding-Brown and Scott Brown
Kefah and Nicholas Spreitzer
Janna Stauffer
Constance and Daniel Stokes
Amy Strong and Chris Rasmussen
Stumm Insurance
Gracie Styler
Sara and Tim Suh
Lauri Sullivan
Elijah Teague
Kanani Thompson
Carol Triggiano
Hui-Min Tsen and Danny Hallum
Maya Tubic
Andrea Vaca
Ileana Valencia Kondrat
Augustine Verciglio
Frances and Gregory Vig
Karen Viola and Tim Hopper
Cynthia Von Orthal and Paul Von Mertens
Eileen Wagner
Rachel Walters and John Raines
Melanie and Michael Welch
Emma Welles and Keith Kleist
Rebecca Welles and Michael Wasiukiewicz
Sarah Wellington and Al Wyatt
Melissa Wergin
Devon White and Derek Broka
Molly and Bradley Wilhelmson
Amber and Jeffrey Wojcinski
Marjorie Woolard and Adam Cohen-Leadholm
Ingrid Zeller
Rebecca Zemans and Ryan Blitstein
Jennifer and Paul Zielinski
Janet Zimmerman
CWS Farmers Market
Thank you
Donations come in various forms. Thank you to everyone who donated their time, expertise, and effort to make our 50th Anniversary Gala an enormous success.
Thanks to
CWS founders, alumni, alumni parents, current parents, past and present Board of Trustees, and past and present faculty and administrators for helping us celebrate 50 incredible years;
Valerie Colis for delivering an inspiring keynote speech;
Al Wyatt for creating our fundraising video;
Colin Williams for donating sound, lighting, and video equipment;
Thomas Meehan for donating a Behind the Scenes Tour of the Brookfield Zoo;
Kelly Leonard for donating a Behind the Scenes Tour of Second City and tickets to a show;
Tony Quartaro of Gemma Foods for donating a Pasta-Making Class;
Nick and Janae Gianou for donating a luxurious Chicago Stay-cation;
Alex Freund for donating Blackhawk Tickets and credit to the team store;
Andrea Shaffer and Rebecca Moskowitz for hosting a coveted Sleep-Under at CWS;
Bret and Tarah Hartung for donating a gorgeous Solo Stove;
Party Cans for donating a variety of premade cocktails;
Taylor Bricker, Marita Espinosa, and Erin Minkley for our fantastic table arrangements;
Lisa Meehan for generously sharing her event planning expertise;
Advancement Committee Members Matt Eging, Tarah Hartung, Anne Wagner, Karen Anderson, Janae Gianou, and Bessie Crum for planning the gala itself;
Connie Stokes for being an endless and eloquent resource for CWS history;
Margaret and Tom McGuire for sharing their story of the founding of CWS;
Josh Collins, Jenna Rogers, Elijah Teague, Adrian Berger, Sabrina Lopez, Claire Woodruff, and Saunders Ervin for sharing their CWS experiences on camera;
Janae Gianou for creating a delicious dessert bar.