Why give to the Annual Giving Fund?

The Annual Giving Fund gives Exeter the financial resources and flexibility to develop and sustain programs that make it a truly exceptional place to teach and learn. Without the fund, Exeter would be unable to offer, or would be forced to curtail, programs and features such as these:

• The 12:1 student-teacher ratio that makes the Harkness table, and those around it, really work.

• An admission program that travels widely and recruits actively—seeking out students who may never have heard of Exeter from new regions of the country and world.

• A competitive athletics program and broad physical education program that cater to both novice and nationally-ranked athletes and include 20 interscholastic sports and 60 teams.

• A landmark Library with 160,000 volumes, a growing collection of digital media, extensive archives and a team of reference librarians to cover the help desk whenever the Library is open, including at night.

• Professional development resources for teachers to research and develop new courses such as the seven that were introduced for 2007–08, including Screenwriting, New China, Old China and Quantum Mechanics.

• A curriculum that never "runs out" because departments will offer specially tailored classes or independent studies to any student if necessary, even if it is a class for just one girl or boy.

• Distinctive off-campus programs such as the Washington Intern Program, founded in 1966, which allows a select group of Exeter students to spend a term working as interns in House and Senate offices and federal agencies. It is one of Capitol Hill’s only residential academic internships open to high school students and Exeter’s most popular off-campus program.

• A student-run radio station, WPEA, 90.5 FM., which has been in existence since 1964 and claims to be the oldest continuously broadcasting high school radio station in America. Recently acquired technology allows Exeter DJs to produce and broadcast as never before.

• Programs across disciplines that bring visiting artists, scholars and authors to campus to work directly with students. In the last two years, the drama program has brought to Exeter some of the biggest names in the business, including author and Academy Award-winning screenwriter John Irving ’61 and Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist Adam Guettel ’83.

• A suite of environmentally focused science courses, student clubs and a sustainability coordinator position on the faculty not only raise awareness of a broad range of social and environmental issues on campus but also inspire creative student projects such as manufacturing bio-diesel fuel from cooking oil, a student-run organic garden and advocating for carbon-reduction goals on campus.

• Activities of the Exeter Social Service Organization (ESSO), which last year involved more students than ever before—over 750 students in 51 service-oriented clubs. The organization recently refined its mission in order to focus less on fundraising for remote causes and more on direct service in the Exeter community, allowing students to see the ongoing results of their service first hand.

• Outreach of the Grainger Observatory, which is not only one of the finest secondary-school astronomy facilities in the United States, but which also (in June 2007) hosted the first ever Grainger Astronomy Conference for secondary-school astronomy teachers. The free, week-long conference, organized by Astronomy Instructor John Blackwell, attracted teachers from across the country who want to collaborate in "an effort to move astronomy to a forefront in the academic world." Grainger boasts three observatory domes, one of which houses a robotic telescope; digital imaging capability; and a heliostat.

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Volunteering for the
Annual Giving Fund

Exeter relies on hundreds of volunteers in a variety of roles, including class agents and phonathon volunteers, to achieve its goals each year.

If you are interested in getting involved, please go to the volunteer section of this website or contact the Annual Giving Office at 1-800-828-4325 x3473.

Annual Giving Fund Profiles:

Naomi Funabashi '08 discovered her voice as a writer at Exeter.
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