Announcing Our Annual Meeting and Seeking Board Members

Suzuki School of Newton is very fortunate to have a tireless group of volunteers who comprise the SSN Board of Directors. As a non-profit, we are required to have a Board of Directors to oversee our organization. Our officers are Anitha Gopalan, President; Barrie Wheeler, Vice President; David Gaylin, Treasurer; and Karen Lourence, Clerk.

The Board has a committee structure with six standing committees: Executive, Finance, Development, Governance, Strategic Planning, and Facilities. Each committee has a chairperson who is a board member and the committee can include non-board members.

The main project this past year has been to monitor the financial status of the Suzuki School of Newton during this pandemic, and also to work on a strategic plan to move our school forward. We have our financial challenges with a slightly less than normal enrollment and the expenses of a mortgage and for maintaining our own building. The Board has worked tirelessly with more meetings than usual this past year.

But we look forward to bringing our lives closer to normal. We hold an annual meeting each June. This year's annual meeting is June 9th at 7:30 pm and it will be via Zoom. All parents and adult students of the school are invited to meet new board members and ratify the Board. We are looking for new Board members -- especially in the areas of marketing, fundraising, and human resources. Anyone interested should contact me (sachiko.isihara@gmail.com) or Deb Leary (teachdebperry@gmail.com), and we will forward your name to the chair of the Governance committee, David Randall. Look for the Annual Meeting notice coming out via email on June 1st.

Our changing world requires us to be flexible while also being innovative and staying true to the mission of the school. We believe every child can learn a love of music and learning, and can achieve excellence if we all work together. See you at the Annual Meeting!

Sachiko Isihara
Executive Director