Annual Report 2010-2011

AnnuAl Review 2010-2011

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Cover DrawingSixth grade art students Alex Gost and Bar Ben Avraham

collaborated on a painting study of La Masia, a key masterpiece by local Catalan artist, Joan Mir.

Table of Contents

Letter from the Foundation Board President 5

BFiS Foundation Board 7

Financial overview 8

Parent Program evaluation Survey for 2010-2011 11

Parent teacher Association (PtA) 14

BFiS 25th Anniversary Celebration 18

iB Accreditation 18

Class of 2011 19

external examination results 19

higher education 20

A FOUNDATIONfor

LIVINGand

LEARNING

BenJAMin FrAnkLin internAtionAL SChooL

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After years of exploring a dizzying variety of campus expansion options, the Foundation Board was delighted to finally secure the property on Passatge de torras i Bages which was beautifully renovated last summer. its integration into our existing campus almost doubled our physical space, providing a hugely improved, luminous learning and working environment for our students and teachers.

this significant capital investment was made possible thanks to years of sound financial oversight and the contributions of many members of our community. in addition to our dedicated Facilities Committee, led by Boris Mulder, and including Susanna Soler, Gonzalo rods, Joe Santos, Serena Washburn, Sol Gmez, tom northrup and the talented professionals engaged on the project, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Snchez Vicario family, the roca family, and to our Director of Finance and operations, Monica Chitnis, for their invaluable contributions.

2010-2011 was a year of leadership transition for our school as we bid farewell to our Director, David Penberg, who returned to the United States to pursue other challenges, and we welcomed tom northrup as our interim head of School. the Board worked with tom on several academic initiatives, the most significant of which was the addition of several new teaching positions meant to further improve the quality and differentiation of our program and to prepare for our new iB Diploma Program.

the BFiS community is a highly engaged, diverse and extraordinary group of individuals. it is strengthened by lively discussion, varied perspectives, and close collaboration. i feel fortunate to be a part of it all and honored to work with the very capable and dedicated people who make up the schools Foundation Board.

Dianna oDoherty President Foundation Board

Letter from the Foundation Board President

ChARACTERCOmmUNITy

&CURRICULUm


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BFIS Foundation Boardthe BFiS Foundation Board is the schools governing body, responsible for defining and safeguarding its mission and for ensuring the schools long-term success and stability. it is comprised of parents and other members of the Barcelona community who volunteer their time, informing the Boards strategic planning efforts with a diverse set of opinions, skills and talents. ten Board members are appointed for three-year terms, and may serve a maximum of three consecutive terms.

Foundation Board members 2010-2011

karen Cervantes

Monica Chitnis (non-voting)

Greggory Crouch

Javier Curtichs

Wendy de la torre* Secretary

Pankaj Ghemawat*

robin khan*

kamran Mohsenin

Boris Mulder treasurer and Chair of Facilities Committee

Dianna oDoherty President and Chair of Development Committee

David Penberg (non-voting)

Gonzalo rods Vila

Susanna Soler Vice President and Chair of Governance Committee

* retired or retiring trustees.

the Boards work includes four main areas: program, finances, facilities and hiring, overseeing and evaluating the schools head of School and Director of Finance and operations. the Board determines the schools program, establishes school policy, approves the schools budgets, ensures that our financial resources are being allocated in keeping with the schools overall mission, and that facilities meet school needs. Much of the work of the Board is accomplished in Board Committees, where many other members of the school community also contribute their expertise.

the Boards 2010-2011 Standing Committees were:

Academic Committee oversees academic policy and initiatives

Development Committee oversees marketing and fundraising

Facilities Committee responsible for the schools current and future facilities

Finance Committee responsible for school budgets, financial oversight and planning

Governance Committee responsible for Board membership, training and compliance

Financial Overview

BFiS remains in excellent fi nancial health, adding to our reserve base in 2010-2011 and positioning ourselves to embark on Phase ii of our Campus improvement Project (CiP).

operating Budget 2010-2011

As an independent, not-for-profi t entity, the Benjamin Franklin international School relies almost exclusively on tuition and other school fees to support the school program and daily operations.

operating income

96,2% // tuition & Matriculation. net of Multifamily Discounts // 5,624,558

1% // Lunch // 55,632

0,8% // Bank interest // 46,070

0,8% // operating Grant // 44,000

0,7% // Bus // 40,689

0,4% // extracurricular, Summer Program & Adult Language Program // 20,681

0,3% // Application Fees // 17,570

TOTAL OPERATING INCOmE 5,849,200

operating expenses62% // Academic Salaries & Compensation // 3,625,318

9,3% // BFiS operating reserves // 546,826

7,5% // operations & it Salaries & Compensation // 437,338

5% // Administrative // 290,586

4,9% // Buildings & Grounds // 289,529

4,8% // instructional expenses // 278,658

2% // Delinquent Accounts, indemnity & Legal Liability expenses // 115,650

1,8% // rent // 106,853

1,5% // Security & Safety // 90,211

1,2% // Utilities // 67,329

0% // interest Payments // 902

TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES & RESERVES 5,849,200

TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES 5,302,374

AnnUAL reVieW 2010-2011

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Summary of operating results

in 2010-2011, BFiS operating income totaled 5,849,200 based on an enrollment of 540 students. While 96% of our operating income came from tuition and matriculation fees, we did significantly raise the revenues generated from bank interest in 2010-2011 by investing a substantial portion of our accumulated reserves in higher yielding bank CDs (certificates of deposit) and by pursuing a small operating grant from the U.S. Government.

in terms of operating expenses, it will come as no surprise that our greatest cost item is the compensation of our teachers and academic administrators, as we continue striving to attract the best international educators to our school. total academic salaries and benefits accounted for about 62% of our total operating budget, while another 5% was spent on instructional supplies. operational expenses that is, the non-academic costs associated with running the school day-to-day which include administrative, office, maintenance, cleaning, and rent expenses accounted for another 23% of our operating Budget. in total, our operating expenses were 5,302,374 for the 2010-2011 academic year.

We are very pleased to report that the positive difference of 546,826 between operating income and operating expenses in 2010-2011, or 9% of our total operating Budget, was added to our growing cushion of operating reserves (see chart on the next page: BFiS Cumulative reserves).

Summary of Capital Fund results

the one-time Capital Fund fees paid by new students upon initial matriculation differs from annual school fees in that they are intended to fund capital expenditures, rather than support the day-to-day operations of our school. this annual source of funds varies significantly from year to year, depending on the number of new students joining our community each year. in 2010-2011 124 new students matriculated at BFiS 11 fewer than in 2009-2010 - generating 421,600 in Capital Fund income.

While non-operational, capital expenditures would typically be focused on the schools infrastructure needs in any given year, our 2010-2011 Capital Fund Budget was utilized almost exclusively to fund Phase i of our Campus improvement Project (CiP). During the summer of 2011, we invested just over 1 million in campus infrastructure, including investments in technology, in order to complete the renovation of three floors of the new MS/hS building and increase the use of technology in our classrooms. Because our Capital Fund income for the year (421,600) fell well short of this total investment, the balance of 564,756 was funded from our Cumulative reserves.


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Summary of reserve Position

even after the substantial investment in improvements to our new MS/hS building this year, our school remains in excellent financial health, with about 1,614,000 in total accumulated reserves as of September 2011.

BFiS Cumulative reserves* 2006 - 2011

*total reserves include annual depreciation - a non-cash item specifically intended to provide for investment in buildings, equipment and infrastructure over time.

Campus improvement Project (CiP)

With virtually no debt on our books, BFiS is in a strong financial position from which to now embark on Phase ii of our CiP. We are thrilled to have a highly talented and proven team in place, consisting of h2L2 Architects and Designers, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based architectural firm specializing in international schools, edetco tecnics, a local construction management company with extensive expertise in Barcelona, and our own Facilities Committee. Working in close collaboration with the Foundation Board and members of the administration and faculty, we are in the process of developing a Facilities Master Plan and are confident that the next phase of our Campus improvement Project will provide our school with wonderfully enhanced physical space to continue developing our program in exciting ways.

Monica r. Chitnis Director of Finance and operations

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Parent Program Evaluation Survey for 2010-2011in May 2011, a parent satisfaction survey was sent to all BFiS families. the survey was designed to provide the Foundation Board, the school administration and the Parent teacher Association (PtA) with feedback on areas ranging from curriculum to food service.

60% of our parents responded to the survey and, in addition, provided over 350 individual comments. We thank the many parents who took the time to provide their feedback and will be asking for your participation again, this spring, in completing the 2011-2012 survey.

While we were very encouraged to have 90% of responding parents indicate satisfi ed or very satisfi ed when asked, how satisfi ed are you with the overall quality of education that your child is receiving at BFiS?, the responses to the many other questions clearly highlighted our strengths and weaknesses and were very helpful to the schools leadership in establishing priorities for the 2011-12 school year and beyond. in September 2011, interim head of School, tom northrup, provided a brief summary of several of these important changes and more detail is provided below.

An analysis of the 2010-2011 survey results and comments highlighted the following areas of strength and areas in need of improvement:

Strengths

the BFiS community - both for students and parents.

the individual care and respect for each student.

the response by teachers to parental questions and concerns in a meaningful and timely manner.

electronic weekly newsletter (need to have fewer emails).

the prompt follow-up of the operations team (fi nance, business offi ce, and community relations) to parental

questions and concerns.

the quality of school events run by the PtA, by the administration, and by the students.

Areas to improve

Language Acquisition programs, in particular Spanish.

Continued emphasis on differentiation of instruction, particularly in Middle and high School Math.

Lunch program.

Board communication to parents.

Physical education program.

After-school activities and extra-Curricular program.


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Among the important changes that have already been made, or set in motion, in response to the 2010-2011 parent survey, are the following:

More differentiation in the classroom and better learning support

Parents indicated they would like to see more differentiation in instruction, particularly in certain subjects such as Math and Languages. Given our schools mission to foster each childs learning and growth, the ability to differentiate instruction is something we want to do well. in order to address this, the Foundation Board approved the creation of several additional full-time and part-time teaching positions for the 2011-2012 school year. these additional teachers have allowed us to break classes down into smaller groups, allowing for more individualized instruction.

to further improve instruction and learning, our Learning Support program was strengthened this year with additional teacher training from the Shelton Schools teacher training institute and the addition of more Learning Support resources in eS. these resources are wonderful for our students with learning differences but they are valuable to all of our students as they provide methodologies to enhance teaching overall. in addition, as our Learning Support program is further strengthened, we are hoping to address the concerns that many parents raised in the survey regarding a need for better Student study skills and effective time management techniques.

Stronger Math program

We invited Monica neagoy, a specialist in Math curriculum and instruction, to assess our current Math program and make recommendations for its improvement. her work with our teachers has already been beneficial and we began to rethink how we teach Math at BFiS. For 2011-2012 we began by creating smaller instructional groups in order to better address the needs of our students whose Math proficiencies vary widely. We will continue to increase the differentiation of this program by providing for more and smaller classes. Dr. neagoy will return in 2012-2013 for more extensive teacher training and to work on the integration of technology into our Math curriculum.

Better language acquisition

Language acquisition is central to our schools work, and parent feedback highlighted the fact that we need to improve both our english as an Additional Language (eAL) and Spanish as an Additional Language (SAL) programs. to begin, organizational changes were made to these programs this year in order to provide a more cohesive program across all grades. the impact of these changes is being assessed this year and these programs remain a focus for further improvements. BFiS language acquisition programs are a key part of our curriculum and we are committed to working on their continued improvement.

Physical education

We made great efforts to respond to parent feedback, across all grades levels, on the need to improve our Physical education program. We hope youll agree that moving our Pe program to Can Caralleu has made a


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substantial difference in 2011-2012, both in terms of the caliber of the facilities, the variety of activities available to our students and the quality of instruction. We know more work remains to strengthen the Pe curriculum and we will be working with our Pe teachers to this end.

Board communication

Parents indicated that they did not feel sufficiently informed about the BFiS Foundation Board and its work. to begin to respond to this, we expanded the information available on the schools website and have provided minutes of the Boards monthly meetings in 2011-2012 to keep the community up to date. We also introduced several Breakfast with the Board sessions, over the second semester of 2011-2012, to provide opportunities for parents to get additional information on the schools governance and the Boards work.

Food service

As many of you know, our lunch program has been a source of dissatisfaction for some time. Despite a new food service provider in 2010-2011, the survey indicated that we had not yet solved this problem. For 2011-2012 we contracted with another new food service provider, Cuina Justa, to deliver our lunch program and early feedback has been positive overall. We now have an expanded and improved menu, focused on good nutrition and balance, which seeks to appeal to our students varied tastes. Well continue looking for specific feedback on our lunch service so that we can further improve it.

Several other areas where parent satisfaction was lower than wed like are being reviewed this year so as to develop effective plans for improvement and allocate resources accordingly. these include College Counseling, Catalan Studies, Student reports and technology.

As you can see, your opinion and feedback is tremendously important to BFiS, to its administrators, PtA, and to the Foundation Board as we seek to provide our students with the best possible education and school experience. Please continue to provide this critical data by completing the 2011-2012 survey when you receive it later this year.

Most Sincerely, BFiS Foundation Board, Administration and PtA


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Parent Teacher Association (PTA)in the 2010-2011 school year, the PtA Board focused on three main areas: strengthening current PtA programs, improving new-family programs, and positioning the PtA as a more meaningful voice for parents within our school.

the PtA helped to organize the following events throughout the year:

the proceeds generated from PtA events were used to underwrite the cost of the Sant Jordi celebration, subsidize a shuttle bus and drinks for the teacher kick off party, contribute two mobile art walls for the Art Department, and purchase art display strips for the elementary School.

We were particularly pleased with our new Families orientation program - a three-day event held the fi rst week of school. the feedback from our families was extremely positive, and we look forward to continuing the program next year. Looking ahead, we will be collaborating with school counselors on developing a consistent, strong, school-wide buddy program, which will take place over the summer and culminate in a two-day expanded School Welcome program. We are also working with the Art, Music and Library teachers to help them attract and retain more parent support and volunteers. We are calling this program the PiSA program (Parents in Support of the Arts).

Finally, we have been working to strengthen the role of the PtA in the school. our PtA Board will remain unchanged for 2011-2012, which will enable us to maintain our momentum on current initiatives - such as Parent Workshops and a quarterly newsletter. in addition, we want to continue providing parents with a voice within the school. in particular, we want to ensure that once parents express their concerns to us, we have the opportunity to regularly communicate those concerns to the schools administration and the Foundation Board in a constructive way.

Going forward, it will be vital to readdress communication channels, moving beyond the room Parent network (which sometimes overwhelms parents with more than one BFiS student with repeated emails) and the Weekly, and developing a dedicated PtA email account that can address families specifi cally. Finally, if possible, we hope to establish a dedicated Parent resource room to provide a space to hold PtA meetings, to collaborate with teachers and school administrators, to host room Parent meetings, to sponsor parent presentations, and more.

new Families orientation

Welcome Coffee

international Groceries fi eld trip

halloween Party

holiday Coffee and Crafts (for parents)

holiday Cava and Cookies (for teachers)

Parent Workshop: Surviving Your Childs Sexual

Development (Mary Gillcoat)

Parent Workshop: Your Childs Social and emotional

health (Dr. Santandreu)

Frosty Friday

Pancake Day

Jump rope for heart refreshments

Meet and Greet tom northrup

Art Show refreshments

international Food Fair

Sports Day refreshments

Wizard of oz concession stand

Monthly Lost and Found Clean out (clothing

donated to charity)

Parent Workshop & Panel: race to nowhere

ticket sales for Sant Jordi


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thAnk YoU to all the BFiS VoLUnteerS!!!

Expenditures EUROS

Sponsored Activities* 8,920

School Contributions** 7,970

Total Expenditures 16,890

Revenue EUROS

events 13,975

BFiS Contribution 5,075

Total Revenue 19,050

NET INCOmE 2,160

PTA officers 2010-2011

Marjolijn Mac Conuladh, President

Jessica Ziegler, Vice President

ed de Wolf, Vice President

Anouschka orueta, treasurer

Anurada Ghemawat, Secretary

Genevieve hiltebrand, teacher Liaison

*School Activities

halloween

international Food Fair

**School Contributions

Music donation

Donation Sant Jordi

Mobile art walls

Wizard of oz concession stand

Art Show

road to nowhere movie sponsorship


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Character Community

Service, habitat for humanity,

Senegal

Community and

Tradition Sant Jordi Festival

Curriculum International Dedicated Teachers


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Campus Improvement Project (CIP),

mS/hS Campus,

more green space

Campus Improvement Project (CIP),

mS/hS Library

Committed to Faculty & Parent Education.

Dr. michael Thompson


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BFIS 25th Anniversary Celebrationover 300 members of the BFiS community gathered on April 30th, 2011 to celebrate our schools 25th Anniversary. it was an extraordinarily moving evening and an important milestone in our BFiS history. We were delighted to welcome school founders together with past and present staff, teachers, trustees, parents and students. We were also honored to have Xavier Mayo from the BCn Ajuntament and Greggory Crouch, the US Consul General in Barcelona, join the festivities.

the celebration was held at el Principal, a wonderfully elegant setting in the heart of Barcelona, with a charming outdoor patio and library. the venue was beautifully decorated with pictures of BFiS through the years and a wonderful video, which included interviews with founding parents, students and faculty, was on view throughout the evening. in honor of the occasion, Pilar hernando and Alexandra oriol prepared A history of BFiS, detailing the schools origins and growth over the last quarter century.

our own Feargal MacConuladh was Master of Ceremonies for the evening, which included several heartfelt speeches and some very entertaining performances, most notably from several members of the schools Wizard of oz cast. Dancing followed downstairs a lovely way to end a memorable evening.

Special thanks to all those who made the evening such a great success, particularly our donors, Fluendo, Alberta La Grup, Coco-Mat, estudi 6, Freixenet, Securitas, Serunion, tinkle, and Vistaprint and our event organizers, Serena Washburn, Monica Planas, Pilar Parmigiana, Carmen trepat, ester Saracho, Pilar hernando, Alexandra oriol, roberto Baldizn and David Magaa.

IB AccreditationWe were very pleased when, in April 2011, our school was authorized by the international Baccalaureate organization to offer the Diploma Program beginning in the fall of 2011. the realization of the iB Diploma Program reinforces our international school identity and represents the fulfillment of another aspect of the BFiS dream envisioned by our founders. the Class of 2013 will be our first graduating class, with all students enrolled in iB classes. the timing of the campus expansion could not have been better, as the Library Commons and additional space afforded by the new MS/hS building have positively impacted the learning environment for both students and teachers. our MS/hS teachers and adminitrators are working together to make our iB program a success and i have no doubt that despite expected challenges, we will succeed in providing our students an exciting and rigorous two-year program to cap off their BFiS education.

kili Lay

iB Coordinator, Director of instruction & Staff Development


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Class of 2011

Congratulations to our Class of 2011!

Beatriz AlonsoZachary AndrusMontserrat Corbi PujolEmma EfmorfidiBen FeldbergNicholas D. FlohnDaniel Fragachn QuinteroNadim KuttabCarlota Molina VilaSamuel OrdoezMichael PerroneMohnish Vasudev RahejaKenya SauerNathlie SintsJared Taylor WolfAnder Yilmaz Bescos

External Examination Results

Selectividad Summary

in June 2011, all seniors who sat for the PAU (Pruebas de acceso a la Universidad), passed the Selectividad examination and were successful in obtaining both both their American high School Diploma and the Spanish Bachillerato degree.

Year mean final2011 7.042010 7.232009 7.302008 7.572007 7.09


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Advance Placement (AP) Summary

BFiS students were again very successful in their Advanced Placement (AP) exams, sitting for 89 exams and obtaining strong scores across 15 AP courses.

Year BFIS mean score

BFIS AP scores of 3 or better

BFIS AP scores of 4 or better

2011 3.76 85% 60%2010 4.00 89% 72%2009 3.74 80% 61%2008 3.74 80% 67%

2007 3.76 82% 61%

Higher Education

BFiS Graduates College and University Acceptances:

Babson College, USA

Bentley University, USA

Case Western reserve University, USA

Clark University, USA

Cologne Business School, Germany

Colorado State University, USA

Franklin College, Switzerland

ithaca College, USA

Jnkping University, Sweden

kings College London, Uk

London School of economics, Uk

Manhattanville College, USA

northeastern University, USA

Pace University, USA

Queens University, Canada

richmond the American intl University of London, Uk

royal holloway, University of London, Uk

Southern Methodist University, USA

Syracuse University, USA

trinity College, USA

Universidad de Barcelona (UB), Spain

- Anthropology

- Criminology

- engineering

- Political Science

- tourism

- Business Administration

Universidad de ramn Llull eSADe, Spain

Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona (AUB) - hotel Management

University College London, Uk

University of Bremen, Germany

University of California, irvine, USA

University of California, riverside, USA

University of California, San Diego, USA

University of Connecticut, USA

University of edinburgh, Uk

University of Greenwich, Uk

University of Leeds, Uk

University of Liverpool, Uk

University of Madrid, Spain

University of Manchester, Uk Medical engineering with Management

University of Manchester, Uk

University of nottingham, Uk

University of oregon, USA

University of Plymouth, Uk

University of richmond, USA

University of Strathclyde, Uk

University of Vermont (UVM), USA

University of Warwick, Uk

Villanova University, Spain

Wake Forest University (eD), USA

Webster University, Leiden, holland

Xavier University, USA

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Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this report. We apologize in advance for any errors or omissions

and encourage your comments and suggestions. Please contact Serena Washburn, Director of Community Relations

& Marketing, [email protected].

Annual Review Staff

Editorsnria Borrell

Maribel CastilloMonica Chitnis

Dianna oDoherty

TranslatorsAnouschka orueta

Dbora real

ContributorsMonica ChitnisLaura esteban

kili LayPtA

Layout & DesignSacajugo

Serena Washburn

Contact Us:

E-mail: [email protected]: +34 93 434 23 80 - Fax: +34 93 417 36 33Web: www.bfischool.org www.facebook.com/BFIS.school

BEnjamin Franklin intErnational School C. martorell i Pea, 9 - 08017 Barcelona, Spain

Accreditations & memberships

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Annual Report 2010-2011

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