The Nightingale Fund is our annual primary fundraising initiative that supports our highest priorities—academic excellence, faculty support, athletics, visual and performing arts, financial aid, extracurricular experiences, school traditions, and so much more.

The Nightingale Fund impacts everything we do.

Each year, the generosity of alumnae, families, and friends provides vital resources that allow our students and faculty to flourish. The collective support of our community makes a meaningful difference in the life of our school, expanding what is possible within and beyond the blue doors. Your participation signifies a shared commitment to championing our mission.

Where Your Contribution Goes

The Nightingale Fund plays a major role in everything we do.

The Nightingale Fund is the core of our day-to-day operations, and your 100% tax-deductible gift makes a Nightingale education possible for every student. We rely on gifts to the Nightingale Fund to provide immediate and vital resources that allow our students and faculty to flourish. The fund supports the school in the following areas:

Area of Greatest Need

Programmatic support across all divisions that allows us to enhance the academic experience and sustain robust programming, including arts, athletics, STEAM, Foreign Language (FLES), and extracurricular activities

Enriched academic offerings beyond the classroom, such as local and global travel, guest speakers, and special events

Build and maintain connections with our alumnae community through virtual, local, and global initiatives

Safety and Sustainability

Installation of high-quality HEPA air purifiers, bipolar ionization air scrubbers, and MERV-13 filters throughout schoolhouse

Transportation for faculty and students via Citi Bike, bus, and Uber, in addition to parking

Offsite facilities and practice fields that allow us to follow social distancing guidelines

Enhanced cleaning and disinfection practices (i.e. hands-free fixtures, external tap lights to indicate capacity, portable hand sanitizing stations, and disinfecting wipe dispensers throughout the building)

Preventative care supplies for all students, faculty, and staff, including thermometers, masks, and face shields

Changes to the physical plant (i.e. walls in the auditorium, student center, and commons) to transform existing public spaces into technologically-equipped classrooms

Technology

1:1 Program, personal learning device provided to all students (K-XII)

Classroom innovation and tools that enhance both the in-person and remote learning experience, allowing real time feedback (i.e. cameras and microphones)

Subscriptions to online learning programs, books, resources, including SORA, Flipster, Kanopy, Pebble Go, EBSCO, GALE, PROQUEST, Britannica, and Oxford

Health and Wellness

Designated health courses for students in Classes I-XII and the development of an exemplary mindfulness program for K-XII

Physical Education and athletic programming

Integrated initiatives throughout the community, school life, and advising program; i.e. US Wellness Day, mental health support, and workshops for students of color

Onsite school nurse, medical room equipped for first-aid and isolation, and first aid training for all hired school interns

Divisional counselors in Lower, Middle, and Upper School

Specialized programming for faculty and staff around mental health topics (i.e. listening skills for non-counselors, mental health, first aid, and mindfulness training).

Faculty Support

Professional development and continuing education opportunities through graduate work and academic conferences

Support the implementation of new or enhanced curricular programs

Classroom supplies and materials

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives

Antiracist training for faculty/staff, parents, and alumnae

Affinity groups

DEI programming for students

Support for BIPOC Students/Faculty via SDLC and POCC conference (Virtual for 2020)

Celebratory community event experiences for all, including Cultural Night and Homecoming

The Erika Hageman Robinson Majesty Fund is dedicated to supporting and strengthening the school's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. This fund, created thanks to alumnae engagement, is named in honor of Erika Hageman Robinson ’75, the first Black student to have enrolled at Nightingale in 1965.

Scholarship/Financial Aid

$5.7 million of financial aid awarded for 2020-2021 school year

Financial aid needed for extraordinary circumstances such as loss of job or COVID-related student expenses

Need-based scholarships for programs such as Hobbyhorse (after school program), Sunny Days (summer day program), and academic institutional programming

Need-based assistance for additional expenses, including international student travel and experiential events like prom and graduation

Impact Stories

Real Stories, Real Impact

Your donation helps provide Nightingale students with the experiences they will take with them through life.

Faculty Fellows Strengthen our Community

While our fall reopening required a variety of new health and safety protocols, the hiring of additional faculty support was essential to meeting the demands of our new day-to-day routines. With that, the Faculty Fellows Program was born! Thanks to the support of our community, a total of 17 full-time Faculty Fellows have been hired to date, 12 of whom are alumnae ranging from the Class of 2006 to 2016. Fellows have quickly become vital to our program and bring their own experience to the forefront, providing critical support in the classroom, managing community times, monitoring our health screenings, supervising check in, managing classes for our Hawks@Home faculty, and so much more.

Technology Brings New Approach to Classroom Learning

Today, more than ever, technology is vital to the learning experience. Thanks to the support of donors like you, all students K-XII, whether learning in person or as Hawks@Home, are active classroom participants. From logging in to divisional assemblies or engaging in a lively small group discussion, our faculty have the ability to teach in real-time. What a way to step into our second century!

Expanding School Transportation for Students and Faculty

With the wellbeing of our community top of mind in planning our fall reopening, it became increasingly important to provide the means for our students and teachers to safely travel to and from Nightingale. Your generosity allows us to ensure that transportation is not a barrier to returning through the blue doors each day—whether traveling from an outer borough or feeling uneasy about public transportation, Nightingale has implemented a private bus system for our students and faculty. From Brooklyn to downtown Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, we are grateful to offer this opportunity to our community!

Learning about New York City, From the Ground Up

Class II students visited the Queens Museum to kick off their year-long study of New York City. Students took in the panoramic model of New York City, which brought to life the flat maps of all five boroughs they studied in the classroom. The model, originally built in 1964, contains more than 850,000 buildings and is built on a scale of 1" to 100'. After a museum tour, students participated in an art project where they built cardboard models of a city block. This trip set the stage for what is to come during this exciting year of learning about their city through frequent field trips, hands-on projects, books, photos, and online media. Learning about New York from the ground up gives our students a head start on building the relationships so key to a Nightingale education.

Peer Leaders Building Relationships Across Divisions

The Peer Leader Group Program is designed to offer both mentor and leadership skill-building opportunities to select seniors. Led by specialized faculty Jenny McFeely, LCSW-R, Director of Counseling, and Rachael Lewiton, LCSW, Middle School Counselor, the program directly links to the social-emotional support initiatives being implemented in both Middle and Upper School.

Peer leaders help Class VII and Class IX students and support them through managing academics, resolving conflict, wise decision-making, and more. Peer leaders direct advising sessions each cycle and meet regularly to debrief and plan for their next lesson in response to the particular needs of their group. Younger students benefit from trusted relationships and peer leaders build life-long leadership skills.

Round Square Global and Cultural Competency

Your gift supports our commitment to global and cultural competency. The classroom transcends the blue doors, and your support provides opportunities for our students to follow their curiosity and question circumstances beyond our walls. Through this, they become empowered leaders, critical thinkers, and agents of their own lives.

Last fall, Aisling Kennedy ’21, and two faculty members traveled to India for the 2019 Round Square Conference. Over the course of her 10-day stay, Aisling heard from keynote speakers who expanded upon the ideas shared in breakout groups, participated in service projects, and took in the local sights. “After discussing global issues with students from around the world, I more fully understand that when we come together, we are so much stronger,” said Kennedy.

Teaching and Learning for Nightingale's Second Century

Over 100 community members were welcomed through the blue doors to experience The Classroom Revisited, a special Centennial event. The day offered a unique opportunity to attend various classes and the chance to experience the magic of a Nightingale education.

The Nightingale Fund allows us to adapt our curriculum, adjust to the needs of our students and community, and attract top faculty and administrative leaders. Event attendees were able to experience the benefit of this first-hand as they saw the relationships in the Schoolhouse in action.

Your annual support ensures that Nightingale remains a school on the move and furthermore, allows us to offer community-wide events that honor our school as one that stands A Century Strong.

Middle School Debate Promotes Listening and Resilience

The Nightingale Find supports cornerstone academic programs like the Middle School Debate. We couldn't run this program, whose expenses include registration fees, judge stipends, and faculty compensation, without the support of our generous donors.

Nightingale offers a Middle School debate club and debate team of students from classes VII and VIII to provide extra intellectual rigor for students who crave it. These self-motivated, dedicated debaters spend two enrichment periods each cycle performing the necessary research, building their case, and participating in practice debates.

This seminal Middle School experience provides experience formulating an argument and delivering it directly, using rhetoric and emotion, and learning from failure when a tight competition is lost.

Ways to Give

Give Online Now

The easiest way to donate to The Nightingale Fund. Click the link below to fill out our donate form and give today.

Other Ways to Give

Maximize Your Gift Through a Matching Gift Program

Double or triple your financial support to Nightingale! Check below or ask your employer about their matching gift program. Contact giving@nightingale.org if we can assist you in the process.

Get Involved

The Nightingale Fund Class Agent Committee

We are grateful for the enthusiasm and commitment of our class agent volunteers. Nightingale Fund Class Agents play a vital role in helping us reach financial and participation goals each year.

Getting involved is easy and can be done from anywhere! For more information, contact Annual Giving Manager Megan Sanderville.

Questions? Reach out to us at any time.