After being closed for several years, TA's Office of Alumni Affairs and Development was reopened last summer. The reason for its existence is two-fold.

First, it serves as a connection between the alumni and the school. Working in tandem with the Alumni Association, the Office of Alumni Affairs maintains alumni databases as well as organizes and funds the activities related to the annual alumni weekend (homecoming). The second function of this office is to raise funds for Takoma Academy. Because it is nearly impossible for a private school to survive on tuition income alone, we must find outside funding sources for special needs, renovation projects or extra programs. This office also produces TA Tidings, a publication specifically for alumni and friends of TA who are helping the school thrive, not simply survive.

What if Takoma Academy earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase
you made online went to support our school? Well, it can!

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up.

GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause. Hundreds of great stores including Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you'll be supporting TA.

Just visit www.GoodSearch.com and be sure to enter Takoma Academy as the charity you wish to support. Thank you!

Two specific fundraising campaigns are taking place at this time. The "Take-a-Seat" program, sponsored by the Alumni Association, is a chapel renovation project. The seats, carpeting and stage drapes will be replaced at a cost of nearly $80,000.00. You’re invited to donate a seat ($175.00) or an entire row of seats ($1,925.00), which includes an engraved placard with your name or text of choice. Nearly $9,000.00 has been raised in this campaign thus far. For more details about this project, please contact TAAA president, Aaron Belcher.

The second project is in full swing and is sponsored and completely funded by PATA, the Parent Association of Takoma Academy. Each classroom and office window in the facility will be redressed with beautiful MechoShades which block harmful UV rays. These high-tech blinds are placing the miscellaneous drapery and mini-blind coverings which have been used for decades. The total cost of this project is nearly $38,000.00, and the parents have raised most of this cost already! New blinds have already been installed throughout the building -- 192 of them, in fact, and they're fantastic! Check them out in the photos below. For more details about this renovation project, please contact me. Click on the donation button above to help cover a window or two.

The campaign to raise funds for Worthy Student Scholarships is ongoing. The cost of a quality Christian education is very high, and too often, far out of reach for many. If you appreciated the opportunity to attend Takoma Academy, and you would like to give that same valuable experience to someone else, please click here.

Your gift to Takoma Academy is tax deductible under IRS 501 (C) (3) - our documentation is available upon request. If you work for an organization which matches gifts to education, and you submit a matching gift form, you will be recognized in TA Tidings for that amount of your gift plus the match. We also gladly welcome your pledge.

Thank you for your tremendous support over the past year. Our future looks brighter because of you.