Solar Panels for Vare Field House

Springside has applied to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for an Energy Harvest Grant in support of the school's goal of installing solar panels on the roof of the Vare Field House—an important effort that could save the school 20% in energy costs.

The solar energy installation, estimated at a cost of $600,000, will conserve or generate 76,075 kWh per year. This conversion to renewable energy sources will position our school as a model and resource in Philadelphia for alternative energy, education, and technology. Ours could potentially be the largest non-profit project of its type in this region.

With the support of Enlighten Springside, the Parents' Association fundraiser, and other individuals, Springside has raised over $200,000 towards this project.

Mayor Nutter wrote in his letter of endorsement for our grant, "I congratulate you on your proposal and thank you for teaching your students that changing how we use energy is essential to restoring our environment and aiding our local economy."

CASE Silver Medal Winners for Principal, Major, or Special Giving Programs

The Council for Support and Advancement of Education (CASE) has awarded Springside's Johanna Sigmund Scholarship Committee a 2008 silver medal Circle of Excellence Award. CASE, the premier organization for fundraising and advancement professionals worldwide, remarked in the determination that this project was "truly exceptional." The Sigmund Committee has raised over $360,000 in scholarship support, exceeding their goal. This fall, the scholarship will support not one, but two scholars, a direct result of their success. "Nothing can honor Johanna more than the opportunity for young women of talent and character to follow her example here at Springside. It is wonderful to have the committee's extraordinary efforts recognized as exceptional by a professional organization," acknowledges Priscilla Sands.
The CASE awards represent programs and initiatives to inspire others to reach a standard of excellence in advancement.

Springside is grateful to the over 1,100 donors who have supported the Johanna Sigmund Fund.

New Applied Physics, Engineering, and Robotics Lab

Springside received a generous grant of $75,000 from the Connelly Foundation for the construction of an additional science laboratory, which was ready for opening day 2008.

To accommodate growing interest in science, Springside has renovated an existing space to create a laboratory of Applied Physics, Engineering, and Robotics. This new lab will allow us to fully support two innovative courses that we have added to our science curriculum—Explorations in Physics and Applied Physics and Design—which explore topics not typically covered in first courses in physics. These new courses emphasize hands-on learning through laboratory activities and projects and explore many facets of electricity, particularly electrical induction, motors, digital electronics, and cell phone technology. Units on nanotechnology, thermodynamics, optics, and nuclear physics, with applications for medical imaging techniques, will now be possible.