ExplorerWest AR 23-24-3 - Flipbook - Page 4
MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD PRESIDENT
As an alumnus of Explorer West, and as Board President, I’m proud of our school’s history and of what
our school continues to be — founded on its core values, serving the needs of a diverse community
of students and their families, and focusing on educating the entire person. We continue to meet our
mission to empower young people to explore and grow their unique intellectual, ethical, and creative
capabilities, and to treasure diversity and growth in others.
B OA RD OF
T R U S TEES
David King, President
Carlos Basulto,
Vice President
Danny Geiger,
Vice President
Deirdre Coleman,
Secretary
Christian Clemons,
Treasurer
Kipepeo “Pep” Brown
Eric Eberhard
Sherman English
Christine Morrell
Julie Riendl
William Sears
Jim Woeppel
Latrice yBarra
We began the 2023-2024 school year in our second year of owning our campus and
building. This marks a new phase in Explorer West’s history — one in which we can
confidently and securely plan for our future. This planning encompasses everything
from campus improvements, to continued financial stability, to long-term strategic
priorities. Our Board is excited to envision and build the Explorer West of the future.
Our campus and building serve the needs of our students very well today, and we
see significant opportunities for improvements to further enhance the school
experience for our students, faculty, and staff. Our first such improvement was
a remodel of the administrative offices, completed during summer 2024. We
are actively progressing towards other facility upgrades, including nearer-term
opportunities, such as bathroom and structural seismic upgrades, and longerterm opportunities, such as a larger facility remodel that could include additional
classroom and performing arts spaces. As our planning advances over the coming
years, we’ll offer further updates and provide opportunities for community input.
While we continue to vision and plan what our future campus will be like, we
also work to maintain our school’s financial stability. Our current Board is
committed to keeping Explorer West accessible to students of all socioeconomic
backgrounds, and our goal is to ensure we can fully meet all annual financial aid
needs. To this end, we are working to determine the optimal size of the Rick Marting
Financial Aid Endowment, which currently provides approximately one third of our
annual financial aid budget. Explorer West’s strong financial position is a tribute to
the outstanding work done by prior Boards and administrators, and to the consistent
support of our community.
The Board has also begun the initial phases of the planning process for our next
five-year strategic plan, which will take effect for the 2026-2027 school year. The
Strategic Planning Committee is soliciting feedback from our community, to ensure
we create the most effective, relevant plan for 2026-2031.
Building for the future of any organization can, at times, feel daunting, scary, and
challenging. Fortunately, Explorer West is in a strong, stable financial and operational
position and has a wonderful Head of School, amazing teachers, and phenomenal
staff. Our community can confidently look forward to what our future campus and
school will be — always focused on, and guided by, our mission and core values.
Thank you for your support of Explorer West!
—David King, Board President
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Explorer West Middle School
Annual Report 2023–2024
