As a donor, your support is vital to foundational work at Carondelet.
Through your gifts, you fuel innovation, jumpstart bold ideas, and empower our students to succeed. Your thoughtful investment impacts the people, spaces, and programs that make Carondelet a dynamic and inventive place for students and faculty to discover, explore, grow, and learn.
Thank you for your commitment to our school.
All of our donors are recognized in the Donor Roll.
Financial Annual Report
This past year, our community came together in extraordinary ways. With your dedicated partnership, Carondelet continued to foster strong, knowledgeable and compassionate leaders and provide an excellent, whole person educational experience to all students. During the unique challenges of a global pandemic, Carondelet pivoted to virtual learning with speed and efficiency. We maintained staffing levels, kept student/staff ratios low and expanded our classroom experience to meet our students needs. Your generosity enabled us to invest in technology and ensure all students have access to online content and needed supplies. And because of your support, our Campus Ministry and Wellness Counselors continue to be an essential resource where students can turn when they need spiritual and social-emotional support. These are just a handful of the countless resources - staff, classes, programs, supplies, and initiatives - that we provide, thanks to you.
Your philanthropic support, volunteer efforts, and engagement with school life during the 2019-2020 year helped raise $287K in annual giving, a 12% decrease from $327K the previous year. This decrease was primarily driven by timing related to sensitivities toward pandemic impact - fundraising appeals, events, campaigns and engagement opportunities were all reimagined to accommodate for myriad unknowns. In addition, we raised $1.1 million for the Jean Hofmann Center for Innovation to close out our impressive $38 million capital campaign.
While this level of contributed income is a testament to our generous community, our fundraising challenges continue to grow. In short, we increasingly have to do more with less. More dollars are needed today to maintain the programs we currently have and more is needed to achieve the ambitious trajectory we have established on behalf of our students. Evidenced by the $1.1 million budgeted shortfall in operating revenue, we rely on your continued investment and generosity to close this gap each year. This is an opportunity for our generous community of supporters to help address this shortfall with tax-deductible contributions in lieu of tuition increases.
Financial Aid
Approximately 26% of Carondelet students receive financial aid, including $1.3 million in need-based grants and $350,000 in merit awards.
The impact of your giving is demonstrated each day through a variety of experiences and accomplishments. There are many examples that showcase our achievements this past academic year. Far from an exhaustive list, there are simply too many things that happen during the course of a year to highlight everything. We are proud of our students, faculty, staff, alumnae and parents and are humbled to share this summary below.
Academics
Our esteemed faculty continue to create innovative, interdisciplinary programs that differentiate our graduates from all other high school students. As a college preparatory school, we not only prepare students for a traditional learning environment where standardized test scores and AP classes are critical to the college admissions process, but offer real-world experiences and critical thinking skills that transcend secondary education.
- Average class size: 24
- 15:1 student to faculty ratio
- 100% of our graduates attended college
- Our students average AP test score was 7% above the national average for all the AP tests taken by Carondelet students combined.
- Student standardized test scores were significantly higher than the national average across the board on both the SAT and ACT.
- ACT: 35% above national average in English, 17% higher in Math, 29% higher in reading, 22% higher in Science and 25% higher overall.
- SAT: 14% higher in Math, 17% higher in English, and 15% higher overall. Though these are traditional measures, they are measures that colleges look at, closely.
The College Board recognized Carondelet for providing opportunities for young women in computer sciences and for our AP Computer Principles class. We continue to create opportunities in STEM fields, which have historically underserved young women. We offer a variety of blended classes, preparing students for online learning environments that are an inevitable part of their future learning. As we transitioned to virtual learning in March due to Covid-19, our computer science curriculum and online learning environments provided our students with the ability to pivot efficiently to distance learning. This created a significant advantage for our students as we embraced an online platform.
We also offer no-cost college credit opportunities through our Early College Credit program. Students earn transferable college credits that enhance their college applications and save money when they attend college. More than 500 Carondelet students have earned credit through this program over the past five years and, using the average cost of the colleges our students attend, have saved approximately $700,000 in unit cost over that time period.
Our college and career counselors provide a comprehensive 4-year approach to mastering the admissions process, including financial aid. Last year we heard from 168 of our graduating students and they received an estimated $5.14 million in financial aid from the institutions of their choice.
Athletics
Approximately 58% or 464 students participated in Cougar athletics during the 2019-2020 year. Notably, 102 students were dual athletes and four students triple athletes. Below are select highlights from the year:
- Cross Country won NCS Academic Champions
- Golf placed 2nd in NCS Finals and had two athletes qualify for High School State Championship
- Volleyball placed 2nd in NCS Finals
- Water Polo placed 2nd in NCS Finals
- Soccer won CIF Norcal Champions and East Bay Athletic League Champions
- Natalie Ionescu received Women of Will (WOW) Award
NCS Scholastic program honors. All Varsity Carondelet Sports earned a GPA of 3.4 and above (Including Club Sports)
- Cross Country 3.7
- Golf 3.6
- Tennis 3.6
- Volleyball 3.8
- Water Polo 3.6
- Basketball 3.6
- Soccer 3.5
- Diving 3.6
- Lacrosse 3.8
- Softball 3.7
- Stunt 3.5
- Swimming 3.7
- Track and Field 3.6
- Dance 3.6
- Rugby 7’s/15’s 3.4
- Sideline Cheer 3.5
- Beach Volleyball 3.5
Student Life
Carondelet’s four-year retreat program provides the opportunity for students to explore their faith, spirituality, and other facets of their personal lives in a safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of faith. Retreats provide time for students to reflect upon and define who they are as young women at different points throughout their high school experience.
Campus Ministry created meaningful virtual liturgical experiences for the Baccalaureate Mass celebrating the class of 2020, Holy Week prayer experiences this past spring, and real-time virtual liturgical events on Zoom during class spotlights.
Associated Student Body and class councils developed interactive experiences through social media platforms like Instagram, and provided supply pick-ups including moments of engagement like free Carondelet t-shirts designed to celebrate our community and inclusive spirit.
Counselors continued to support students through Zoom sessions and small groups while students faced the challenges of moving to distance learning in the spring.
While service is not mandatory for our students, most perform community service and acts of social justice in the tradition of the charism of the Sisters of Saint Joseph “to serve the dear neighbor without distinction.” Our immersion experiences provide insight into homelessness, poverty, immigration, social injustice, and political advocacy. Community service is an integral part of the Carondelet experience and our students make a difference through partnership with many organizations serving vulnerable populations.
Facilities
The Jean Hofmann Center for Innovation opened on November 14, 2019. Our new academic building is a modern learning center designed to spark creativity, discovery, and innovation for all Carondelet students and serve as a hub and resource for the greater East Bay community. The center allows students to learn in collaborative and intrepid ways, giving them the skills to succeed in college and beyond. Carondelet launched its initiative to transform educational programming for young women with curriculum innovation and re-imagining utilization of space.
Donor Honor Roll
Our online lists include all donors who made a meaningful difference for Carondelet’s students, faculty, and community from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.