The Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan’s dual commitment to excellent, integrated, and individualized education and to a tuition policy that ensures access to that education for any Jewish child who will benefit from it both depend on voluntary giving to our Annual Fund by parents, grandparents, and many other supporters of Jewish education. As in most private schools, the full cost of educating a child at Solomon Schechter exceeds even the top tuition on our sliding scale. Our small classes, our co-teaching classroom model, our increasing facilities and our growing program are all expensive. In committing to support these through fundraising beyond our tuition revenue, we are helping to build a unique school, one that already in its early years has become a model for innovative day schools across the country. The sliding scale tuition system is itself part of our determination to make a Solomon Schechter education available to any Jewish child, regardless of family resources. In our eleven years of operation we have never turned down any child because of inability to pay. In consequence, many of Schechter families pay reduced tuition. This, too, is made possible by our Annual Fund. We are proud that in 2006 – 2007 one hundred percent of Solomon Schechter families have made gifts in support of our Annual Fund or our Annual Benefit Dinner at a range of levels commensurate with their means. Voluntary giving is one of the many ways our families show their appreciation of the school’s mission and work. It also demonstrates our partnership with the many individuals and organizations in the Jewish community whose generosity has helped us build our school.