In just five short years, Open Fields will begin its 50th year, and our building will reach its 200th year - but only if we can keep the evil General Rot and Major Rot at bay! Help us fight the good fight and address some much-needed building repairs so we can keep our school a safe and healthy place for the inquiring minds of curious kids.
Inside these historic walls on scenic Thetford Hill, Vermont, Open Fields School has fostered a life-long love of learning for nearly 45 years. Open Fields, founded by Jean K. Aull in 1971, treats students as individuals, in an atmosphere where they are free to do their very best, free from excessive competition with their peers, and free from the fear of failure.
Open Fields in the World
Open Fields students have attended colleges and universities including Bard, Bowdoin, Clemson, Cornell, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, the Sorbonne, Stanford, UNH, UVM, Vassar, Wellesley, and more. But more importantly, they have gone on to create lives that are meaningful to them and to the world - as engineers, farmers, actors, environmentalists, dancers, social workers - often citing Open Fields as crucial in their development.
The Open Fields School building
This school building - formerly a harness shop, residence, and post office - is in a harsh New England environment, where the cold winters, snow, wind, rain, and sun have worked their way through the wood: Our exterior staircase was getting rickety; the window sills and clapboards on the back wall of the school were decaying; one sill, buried by winter after winter of snow, and spring after spring of wet rains, has rotted and needs replacing; and the roof, which has kept snow and rain out of the building for many a year, may not last much longer!
Project Expenses
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Replace exterior stairs/porch/access to third floor: $4,500
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Replace 8 windows on the east side of the building, replace siding as necessary, repair rot at the roofline: $7,500
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Replace rotted sill on the north side of the building: $5,500
- Remove and replace shingles on the roof, repairing any damage: $7,500
Other ways to contribute
- Mail a check to Open Fields School, PO Box 53, Thetford, VT 05074, with "General Rot" in the memo line.
- Donate through Indiegogo
- Stop by the school and hand over some cash. (But please call ahead!)
Perks
- Cheers! ($60) We'll send you a thank you card from a current student.
- Join the Color Guard ($100) Choose a paint color and we'll use it somewhere in the school building. You'll also receive a thank you card from a student.
- Step Up for Open Fields! ($250) We'll put your name on one of our new exterior steps. You'll also receive a thank you card from a student.
- Endow a Chair ($500) We'll put your name on one of our wooden school chairs. You'll also receive a thank you note from a student.
- See It Through, See Through It ($1,000) We'll put your name on one of our new windows, and send you a photograph of the mountains, taken from that window! You'll also receive a thank you card from the whole school.
- Be a Pillar of the Community! ($2,000) We'll mark your support with a medallion in your name on one of the posts holding up the exterior stairs. And we'll send you a thank you card from the whole school!
- Shout it from the Rooftop! ($5,000) You'll get naming rights to a classroom, storage room, downstairs room, or play structure. We'll paint the new name above the doorway, and send a picture of this year's students in that room, along with a thank you card from the whole school!
- Be the BASEMENT TROLL... ($10,000) Legends will be told... We'll put your picture and/or name on the basement door. And you'll get a thank you card from the entire school!
If you'd like any of these perks to be in memory of, or in honor of, someone else, just let us know.
Help us name a room for Jean and/or Trina!
If you'd like, you can forgo your perk and designate your donation toward naming a room in memory of our founder, Jean K. Aull, and/or her partner and long-time school supporter, Trina Schart Hyman. Just let us know you'd like to contribute toward the Founder's Room!
Open Fields School works to keep tuition within reach of all families. Open Fields is a 501(c)(3) organization and contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.