New Foundation Members Fleur and Ronnie Calvert and Brianna Zhou and Tony Shu

The St Catherine’s School Foundation is a society of donors providing financial support to change the course of student lives.

Each year, since 1996, we welcome new members to join us in the pursuit of the best possible facilities, opportunities, equipment and programs for St Catherine’s girls in whose hands lies our future.

The Foundation is proud and delighted to welcome four new members so far this year – Fleur and Ronnie Calvert, along with Brianna Zhou and Tony Shu.

I invite you to read their responses to my Q & A below.

I also encourage you to view the Foundation Prospectus, which outlines what the Foundation expects to deliver in 2021, supported by the generosity of our members.

To learn more about Foundation Membership visit our new Foundation website.

Click above for the Foundation website

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New Foundation Members, Fleur and Ronnie Calvert

Firstly, why St Catherine’s School?

As fourth generation St Catherine’s girls, our three girls had a lot of second-hand uniforms that would have gone to waste if they had gone to another school! More seriously, for Fleur, walking in the driveway of both Barbreck and the Senior School feels like home. The sense of community, caring teachers and friendly students has not changed.

When we moved our girls from a small school in Western Victoria, we wanted them to feel comfortable and settle quickly, while also offering them wider opportunities and a high-quality education. St Catherine’s ticked all those boxes for us.

Thank you for contributing so generously to the St Catherine’s Rural Scholarship Fund. What was your motivation?

We think the Boarding House and the influence of the rural community is vital to a school.

Ronnie grew up in the country and was fortunate enough to be a boarder at Caulfield Grammar which had a huge influence on his life and is an opportunity for which he is very grateful.

We spent five years as a family in western Victoria and recognised the growing divide between the city and country. We are keen to help reduce this divide, albeit on a very small scale, by assisting some country girls to experience city life and receive a quality education like that offered by St Catherine’s.

Some of Fleur’s closest friends at St Catherine’s were boarders (and these friendships remain as strong 25+years on). Fleur witnessed first-hand the value that students from regional areas bring to a city school – in outlook, perspective and all-round contribution.

What does being members of the St Catherine’s School Foundation mean to you?

During the 2020 lockdown we were blown away by the support given to the inaugural Giving Day. It was quite amazing how quickly and generously the School community responded and wanted to support other families. It also confirmed for us what a supportive community we are part of and we wanted to play a role in that.

We also feel strongly about supporting other families, particularly from rural communities, who can add diversity to both the student and parent cohort and we recognised that joining the Foundation was the best way to enable this.

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New Members, Brianna Zhou and Tony Shu

Firstly, why St Catherine’s School?

Before attending St Catherine’s, our daughters were in a small girls’ school, starting from ELC and had a lovely experience there. 

 After visiting a couple of other schools, Lissette decided she wished to attend St Catherine’s and made this decision very independently. She was immediately fond of our Principal, Michelle Carroll, and the warm school culture that reverberated. She also fell in love with the many opportunities associated with the STEM program and range of co-curricular activities. She is currently very content and looks forward to being nurtured into a well-rounded individual alongside her peers.

How much of an impact do you think your giving makes?  

We are really pleased to support the St Catherine’s Building Fund, in particular the development of the Blackbox Theatre. The Blackbox Theatre will play a vital role in our girls’ School life. The skills and experiences they gain from the collaborative performances and events will hopefully provide them with confidence for other aspects of their academic, Co-curricular and social life. We intend to shape them to become women of the future. 

What personal meaning does this funding area have for you/your family?

Brianna: My grandfather graduated from West China Union University (WCUU), which was formed in 1904 by the Union of Four Missions. He graduated with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of the State of New York in 1935. He had a deep appreciation of the people who founded WCUU and who subsequently helped him complete his education.  This is how we come to know the importance of raising funds to support educational institutions. Our family is always looking for the right opportunity to give back. We believe my grandfather would be proud of our contribution. 

How do you think we should encourage the next generation to give?

I think by understanding how people used to live; by understanding the challenges of the past, we can all better appreciate what we have today. From the experience of our ancestors, we learn the impact of giving back now.  Lissette, in fact both our daughters, learn from the act of participation and generosity, which I’m sure are not foreign to any of us. We truly believe in leading by example, which will spur our future generations to achieve more using their compassion and innovation. 

Click above for the Foundation website