MICDS Launches Five-Year, $65 Million Campaign

Information was provided by the Communications Department at MICDS.

Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School (MICDS) has announced a five-year, $65 million fundraising initiative, Bold Action: A Campaign for MICDS, which is focused on strategic priorities that have the greatest potential to transform the lives of MICDS students for generations to come. To date, MICDS has raised $47.7 million toward the $65 million goal.

Bold Action: A Campaign for MICDS was formally announced to an audience of more than 600 during a special kickoff celebration on Friday, April 12, in the McDonnell Athletic Center on campus.

The funding priorities of Bold Action: A Campaign for MICDS include building projects; the McDonnell Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Facility and Brauer Hall are currently under construction, and planning is underway for a new Aquatic Center.

Priorities also include growing the Annual Fund, as well as critical endowment funds that will ensure the hiring and retention of world-class faculty as well as funds that will ensure student access, including need-based financial aid, merit scholarships and resources for full participation in the MICDS experience.

In the fall of 2012, MICDS received the two largest gifts in its history. The first was an unprecedented $21.5 million gift from the JSM Charitable Trust and James S. McDonnell, a 1954 graduate, and Elizabeth Hall McDonnell, a 1958 graduate, for the McDonnell Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Facility.

Stephen F. Brauer, a 1963 graduate, and Camilla (Kimmy) Thompson Brauer, a 1964 graduate, contributed the second largest gift in MICDS history to make possible Brauer Hall, which will include an 800-seat auditorium and student commons areas. Construction of these spectacular facilities began in August 2012 and is scheduled for completion in early 2014.

The funding priorities of Bold Action: A Campaign for MICDS evolved from the core objectives outlined in the 2009-2014 MICDS Strategic Plan, which include a commitment to Great Teaching and Learning, Leadership and Community Engagement, and Sustainability (Environmental and Financial). As the School community began working in earnest to fulfill these strategic priorities, critical educational needs emerged that required not only bold action but also a significant infusion of resources to become reality.

MICDS’ last major fundraising campaign concluded in 2000 and made possible the construction of Olson Hall, an overhaul of the athletic fields, the McDonnell Athletic Center, and endowed funds for faculty professional development, technology and financial aid.