Walnut Hill

Benefit Gala at Carnegie Hall 2008

Walnut Hill, New York, New York
April 11 & 12, 2008

INFORMATION FOR CURRENT PARENTS

Walnut Hill's Annual Benefit Gala will be held this year in New York City at the world-renowned Carnegie Hall on Friday, April 11, 2008. We are very excited about returning to New York for this event to celebrate the School and Ms. Perrin’s tenure as Head. This will be memorable and fun event, and we hope you will join us. Formal invitations will be mailed in January.

The schedule of events is still being worked out, but there will be a visual art opening of student work, a reading by the Writing Studio students, and a performance of musical theatre, music, and dance involving the students and some alumni.

Parents and Families are welcome to enjoy the weekend of April 11th in New York. Here are some details to help you plan:

Walnut Hill provides your student with transportation to and from New York City and each bus has adult chaperones. The entire community will go down sometime on Friday, April 11, and return after the performance at Carnegie Hall (this may change slightly).

Every Walnut Hill student will be onstage at Carnegie Hall. What department your child is in and their level of involvement in the Gala will determine what time they will leave from Walnut Hill. Exact information about your child's schedule will be communicated to you well in advance of the Gala.

The first groups of buses will leave in the morning (approximately 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM) and students will be provided a bag lunch. The last student buses will leave after lunch (approximately 1:00 PM) to arrive in New York for a pre-dinner rehearsal. If your child is a day student, they may spend the night at Walnut Hill on Thursday, but these arrangements need to be made through Ellen or me at least one week in advance (no later than April 4th).

All students will be provided dinner in New York either at Carnegie Hall or at a location near the Hall.

Walnut Hill provides each student with an individual performance ticket. Parents do not need to purchase a ticket for their WH student.

After the performance they will either board the buses to return to Walnut Hill (with their snack packs) or they may leave Gala with you (see below).

Day students returning to Natick may again spend the night on Friday, but these arrangements must also be made at least one week in advance (no later than April 4th).

If you would like your student to spend the night with you in New York after the Gala or to ride back with you instead of on the bus that evening, please see below for necessary permission information. Permission information is needed for EVERY student, not just boarding students, if the student is staying on with and/or riding back with parents/families.

NECESSARY PERMISSION INFORMATION

Parents/Families must provide permission information for any student staying in New York with them after the Gala or riding back with parents/families instead of on the bus with the rest of the school. Please forward the following information to Director of Student Life Ellen Sears or Dean of Students Melissa Cassel by email no later than April 4th, so that they will have the necessary information:

Name of the person with whom the student is staying
Local contact information (i.e. parent cell phone, relative’s home number, etc.) for the host
Time and date of return to Walnut Hill and mode of transportation back
Senior Blanket Permissions are not in effect post-Gala, so we need parental permission for all students not returning on the buses
If students are not staying with a parent we must also receive an email from their host inviting them (this is in addition to the parental permission email).
Please note: NO students may stay alone in a hotel or in a college dormitory.

Please note that all permissions requests must be by email to mcassel@walnuthillarts.org or esears@walnuthillarts.org and must be received at least one week prior to the Gala (no later than April 4th). Phone messages will not be accepted.

If you have any questions about how to procure permissions please contact Mrs. Cassel at mcassel@walnuthillarts.org or (508) 650-5029 or Ellen at esears@walnuthillarts.org or (508) 650-5023.

DINNER AND PERFORMANCE PACKAGE FOR PARENTS

There will be a preperformance dinner for alumni, parents, and friends at Bricco Restaurant, 304 W 56TH Street before the performance at Carnegie Hall. Tickets are $250 per person, and each package includes dinner and drinks and a $100 level ticket for the performance ($150 is tax-deductible). To purchase the dinner and ticket package, please click here. We regret that we cannot offer refunds for unused tickets.

SPONSORSHIP, CORPORATE UNDERWRITING, & ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES

Current parents are invited to sponsor the Benefit Gala at Carnegie Hall. There is a special Patron level offered exclusively to current parents.

If your company is interested in Underwriting the Benefit Gala at Carnegie Hall, please click here .

A souvenir program book will be published to celebrate the Benefit Gala at Carnegie Hall. For information on advertising opportunities, please click here.

We hope you will be able to join us in New York!