FWCD
What's a 60th birthday party without a band?
Fort Worth Country Day (FWCD), the oldest coed college-preparatory school in Fort Worth, announced on Monday that it has kicked off the largest fundraising initiative in school history to coincide with the institution’s 60th anniversary.
“Forward Together” comprehensive campaign has already raised $31 million, school officials said. The objectives of the campaign are to expand and fortify the school’s financial future, further develop its people and programs, and enhance and improve its teaching spaces.
Among those priorities is the construction of a new lower school, which has a price tag of $24 million, according to a press release. The school intends to break ground on the new school in January. Completion is slated for spring 2025.
“A comprehensive campaign is one of the most important ways any school at any time over the history of independent schools has been able to take themselves forward,” said Eric Lombardi, head of school at FWCD, in a statement. “FWCD’s ‘Forward Together’ comprehensive campaign supports a bold vision that, when achieved, will connect our school’s initial 60 years with the next 60, creating a lasting, vibrant, and inclusive community and campus with programs, faculty, and facilities that inspire engagement, excellence, and a sense of belonging.”
During the quiet phase of the campaign, $31 million was raised from 100 current families and 70 faculty and staff members.
Heather and Ryan Senter, longtime parents of students who attend the school, serve as the constituent chairs for the campaign’s public phase.
In addition to the new construction, the campaign encompasses three other priorities, each of which supports FWCD’s mission while meeting critical goals that serve its students, families, faculty, and the city of Fort Worth:
Endowment for sustainability $8 million
Athletic fields enhancement $3.5 million
FWCD Fund $4.5 million
FWCD
The 104-acre campus of Fort Worth Country Day is bordered by Bryant Irvin to the west (right), the Chisholm Trail Parkway to the east, the Southwest Loop/Texas 183 to the south, and new homes to the north.
FWCD opened on Sept. 9, 1963, with 210 students and 17 teachers on a 10-acre campus with three original buildings — one housing classrooms, one housing administration, and one housing the cafeteria.
The school opened with grades one through nine. A grade was added each year after until reaching the 12th grade. A kindergarten was also added in 1964.
Just one year later, in 1964, 80 additional acres of land were purchased, and FWCD opened the doors to its brand-new Annie Richardson Bass Lower School. Sixty years later, FWCD is the proud home of 1,097 students and 159 full-time faculty members across 13 buildings throughout its 104-acre campus in southwest Fort Worth.
“The fact that after less than a year of operation, we have to build another building is indicative of the need for a school of this type,” said Perry R. Bass, the first chairman of the board of trustees at the school, in 1964. “Also, it is a recognition of the need of the community. We are grateful for the public support we have received.”
The first lower school was designed by Preston M. Geren and Associates.
Peter Schwartz, a Princeton man, Class of 1936, was the school’s founding headmaster. He served there until his retirement from the school in 1979.
Said Heather Senter: “The Forward Together Comprehensive Campaign will essentially provide the means to ensure FWCD continues to fulfill its mission set forth in 1963 and nurture this vision well into the future.”