Nutcracker Redesign - $150,000
The Nutcracker is a quintessential holiday classic that has entertained thousands over the years, and for many, this is their first exposure to Walnut Hill. Going into its 20th year, the current production — costumes, sets, choreography, and music — is long overdue for a makeover. Your gift will help us bring this beautiful community tradition into the 21st century.

Recording Sound Equipment - $15,000  SOLD
New microphones, cameras, and other sound equipment will allow Walnut Hill students and faculty access to a dedicated space for recording sessions. In addition, this technology allows us to increase the capacity to broadcast our performances and masterclasses to our global community, as well as to young artists from around the world.

Steinway Initiative - VARIOUS LEVELS
Five years ago we set out to become an all-Steinway School. Help us upgrade our current piano inventory by purchasing new Steinway pianos for performance venues, teaching studios, and practice rooms. We are just $850,000 away from receiving this special and highly marketable Steinway designation.

• Practice Piano/Steinway 1098 Model - $35,000 (8 needed)
• Concert Piano/Steinway D Model - $175,000
• Fully fund the initiative - $850,000

Guest Artist Series - $75,000
We know that amazing artists can expand the minds and hearts of our students, and the broader community. Working with our alumni and our extended arts networks, we seek to bring engaging and inspiring artists to campus for masterclasses, assemblies, artist-in-residence programs, and offerings open to the general public. We also hope to increase the number of visiting alumni musicians from outside the U.S., as well as artists from diverse and non-traditional backgrounds as a way of furthering our commitment to diversity, inclusion, and social justice. In addition to artists’ fees, your gift will fund the update of an existing apartment at 5 Summit Road to serve as on-campus housing for artists in residence.

Photography Program - $15,000
We live in a visual world where photography is a ubiquitous tool used to communicate across the planet. Additional investment in this area would allow us to expand resources in our photography/darkroom program to meet higher student demand, and enable students across all disciplines to learn the foundational skills of photography.

Alumni Commission for Outdoor Sculpture and Art - $50,000
Our campus sits upon 37 acres of beautiful New England hills and fields that are well suited for outdoor art. Let us outwardly proclaim our identity as an art school by adding sculptures and installations to our grounds. We seek to commission outdoor sculpture(s) from Walnut alums. In conjunction with our Visual Art department, students will have an opportunity to learn from the visiting artist and observe and engage with their creative process.

125th Anniversary Scholarship Fund - $25,000
A birthday this big only comes around once in a lifetime. Help us celebrate this milestone by providing a lead gift to establish a new and permanent financial aid fund in the School’s endowment in honor of Walnut Hill’s 125th Anniversary. Larger gifts and multiple donors mean that more students will benefit.

GIFT CARDS OF $125 OR MORE MAY BE APPLIED TO THE FOLLOWING BUDGET-RELIEVING EXPENSE ITEM:

Financial Aid
We wish we could make a Walnut Hill education free for anyone. By supporting need-based tuition assistance, your gift helps us provide the additional boost some families and students need to make a Walnut Hill education a reality. Donors may allocate their gift card to the Annual Fund, or to an endowed 125th Anniversary Scholarship Fund.

Health & Wellness Programming - $35,000 SOLD 
We know that healthy students make for healthy artists and creative thinkers. Research has shown that students today are dealing with higher levels of stress and anxiety than any previous generation, and that increased physical activity, fitness, and strengthening are ways to counter these issues. Your gift will fund the purchase of a new Landice treadmill, and other equipment for our small, but well utilized Fitness and Wellness Center. Funds will also be used to create a new “green” bike sharing program with sheltered parking sheds for protected storage of bikes, along with the purchase of 15 bikes.

Community Arts Outreach & Access - $10,000 SOLD 
The power of the arts to bridge divides and connect people to one another compels us to share our art with the greater community, especially with those who have limited access to high quality, affordable arts programming. Help us underwrite tickets and transportation for underprivileged youth to attend performances and concerts on the Hill, including the Nutcracker, the Spring Musical, or the annual children’s show.

Eliot Test Kitchen - $20,000
Like art, food speaks to our understanding of community, helps us find common ground, and teaches us to appreciate other cultures. The Eliot Test Kitchen, a dedicated area within our new state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, will offer a place for students, faculty, advisory groups, and student organizations to come together over the shared experience of creating a meal, or learning from guest chef cooking demonstrations.

New Classroom Technology - $35,000
Staying ahead of the technology curve is hard to do. Your gift helps us purchase smart boards, 3D printers, and video conferencing equipment for remote teaching, allowing us to design classroom experiences that make full use of state-of-the-art technology.

GIFT CARDS OF $125 OR MORE MAY BE APPLIED TO THE FOLLOWING BUDGET-RELIEVING EXPENSE ITEMS:

International Travel
The world is a big and beautiful place and art lives in every corner. We seek funds to underwrite expenses for teacher chaperones and students who are otherwise unable to participate in international travel programs. International experiences provide our students with unique inspiration, while creating service opportunities in those communities we visit.

Student Field Trips
We live close to one of the most vibrant cities in the United States. With such rich cultural, academic and scientific resources at our fingertips, we would love our students to have more off-campus experiences. Help us by providing funds to subsidize students who are unable to afford field trips and cultural excursions into Boston and other nearby destinations.

Head of School Innovation Fund
When he arrived in 2010, Head of School Antonio Viva created a line in his budget to fund great ideas, and faculty and students continue to dream big. While schools often budget for things like a broken window or busted pipe, they rarely have sufficient resources to support new initiatives. The Innovation Fund, distributed at the discretion of the Head of School, will expand funding for creative new projects and student-driven initiatives.

Professional Development
We are fortunate to have some of the most dedicated and talented faculty and staff anywhere in the world. We know that many look for opportunities to expand their teaching practice and hone their skills as educators, advisors, and school professionals. We hope you will consider supplementing our $50,000 annual professional development budget by providing additional funds to support specialized training, coursework, classes, and other professional development opportunities for faculty and staff.

Outdoor Classroom - $25,000   SOLD   
Sometimes nature can be the best classroom. We will encourage our faculty to make use of our outdoor spaces by investing in a dedicated outdoor classroom. The space will allow for discussion, collaboration, reflection, drawing, and inspiration amid the backdrop of our beautiful New England landscape.

Radio Visibility Campaign - $75,000   
It may seem hard to believe, but there are people who live in Natick and the Boston metropolitan area who don’t know who we are or what we do. As we celebrate this big birthday, we hope to increase our community exposure by dedicating resources to a year-long visibility campaign promoting Walnut Hill on local NPR affiliates, WBUR and WGBH.

Archives Preservation - $50,000
Our rich 125-year history deserves to be preserved and shared with scholars, alumni, and students. We seek to remedy the lack of a functional school archives to honor Ms. Conant and Ms. Bigelow’s prolific vision, and the generations of educators, students, and alumni who worked, studied, and trained here. Funds will be used to organize, document, store, and provide community and scholarly access to the wide-ranging historical collection.

Establish the Non Nobis Solum House - $750,000
What better place to access our archives but a dedicated building where students, faculty, alumni, and friends can gather. We seek funds to renovate the campus building at 28 Highland Street to serve as both a formal meeting space and informal gathering space for alumni, faculty, staff, student leaders, day students, and student organizations. The home will properly store and display the School’s historic archives, and include a viewing station for media, such as recorded performances.