Happy Valley Legacy Project

Beginning in 1864, Happy Valley School has served as the hub of the Happy Valley community. Whether in its original one-room school house built in 1865 at 3875 Branciforte Drive (cross street- Fast Lane), the replacement school built on the same site about 1921, or the current 6-classroom site at 3125 Branciforte Drive, Happy Valley School has been home to thousands of students who live in the Valley, as well as inter-district transfers looking for a quality education.

To function as one of the premier public education agencies in Santa Cruz County and beyond, a team effort is required between school staff, students, and parents. With the ups and downs of state and federal funding for education and the volatility of the financial marketplace, the partnership between school and families has been more crucial in maintaining programs that offer students innovative, meaningful, and rigorous curriculum.

Building on a philosophy that understands the value and power of a low adult-to student ratio in the learning environment, Happy Valley School is one of the few remaining schools in the County that provides classroom aides, music teachers, and a technology aide. The cost to maintain these programs runs in the neighborhood of $130,000 beyond the normal school budget. To sustain the cost of this philosophy and its implementation, a continual fundraising effort is in place to ensure uninterrupted services and quality.

The fundraising campaign at Happy Valley School is multi-pronged, providing a variety of giving options for parents, grandparents, friends, alumni, and agencies, as described below.

Giving Option 1: Donations to the Happy Valley School Endowment Fund
In 1989-90, then board president, the late Joe Allen, and then administrator, Cheryl Morris Brothers, collaborated with school and community members and the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County (CFSCC) to create the Happy Valley School Endowment Fund. Having had experience with Endowment Funds through his work as Dean at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Allen had the vision and foresight to understand how such an Endowment would benefit the students and families of Happy Valley over the long term. By requiring that the Endowment Fund generate a principal of $300,000 before allowing interest to be used to support programs, Allen and Brothers created a long-range plan of ongoing support that would continue to grow as donations were made to the Fund. Currently the Endowment Fund has over $835,000 split between three funds, a flex fund and an Endowlment Fund at CFSCC and an Endowment Fund with the County Treasurer. Donations earmarked for any of these funds help: 1) to continue to grow the principle toward the goal of $4 million, and 2) to continue to generate $32,000± in interest annually to support programs. (For a more complete description of the Endowment Fund history, visit the Parents’ Club web site— http://www.happyvalleyparentclub.com— and click on Endowment Fund.)

Giving Option 2: Donations to the Happy Valley Parents’ Club Fund
The Happy Valley Parents’ Club has been in existence as long as the school has been in operation, whether informally or formally. In addition to providing support for classrooms and events through volunteers, the Parents’ Club plays a key fundraising role to help raise funds beyond the Endowment Fund contribution required to maintain the special programs that support low adult-to-student ratio. To achieve this important objective, the Parents’ Club needs to raise $100,000± per year. To do so, the Parents’ Club coordinates two major annual events, the Community Barbecue held in October and the Redwood Dinner held between March and May. In addition, the Parents’ Club coordinates a variety of additional fundraising events including Kid’s Olympics in March/April, Drive for Schools in October, and T-Shirt Sales in October. The Parents’ Club continues to solicit additional donations from parents, friends, and supporters to reach their goal throughout the school year.

Giving Option 3: Matching Gifts
Another option for increasing funds available to support enhanced Happy Valley School programs is a matching gift. For example, recently an anonymous donor gifted $10,000 to Happy Valley School with two stipulations: 1) the $10,000 gift requires that the Happy Valley School community match the gift to reach a total of $20,000, and 2) that the $20,000 be placed in the Happy Valley Endowment Fund. In general, gifts or matching gifts can be donated to either the Happy Valley Parents Club or Endowment Fund depending on the desire of the donor.

Giving Option 4: Planned Giving
Working with the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, Happy Valley School encourages our alumni, parents, family members, and friends to consider long-term planned giving options to help support Happy Valley’s legacy. The general recommendation is for planned giving efforts to be strategically earmarked for the Happy Valley Endowment Fund. Planned giving requires potential donors to engage in financial or estate planning, which not only provide future funds for Happy Valley, but which often result in

How the Endowment Fund and Parents’ Club Work Together to Benefit Happy Valley
Both fundraising efforts are necessary to allow Happy Valley School to continue its high level of educational quality. There is no conflict between the two. The Parents’ Club fundraising efforts are solely raised for the purpose of annual operational support. An endowment effort is presented to the community and other supporters as a way to show additional support for the school. It shows that the Happy Valley administration and Board have foresight as an organization that is actively planning for its financial future, as Happy Valley has done successfully for the past 25 years.