Frequently Asked Questions
Does the SAA organize class reunions? No.
Does the SAA charge a fee to attend events? No.
Why should I become a paid member if I receive a free e-newsletter and free access to most of the content on the website?
What are my membership benefits?
How are the membership-dues used?
Are there any membership discounts? Yes.
Why has there been an increase on the yearly dues?
Does the SAA organize class reunions? No.
The Association does not organize any reunions events. Your classmates organize your class reunion events. The SAA simply offers guidance to your fellow classmates by providing them with an updated list when it is requested, by including them in our insurance to hold events on the school grounds and by answering any questions the reunion planers may have.
Does the SAA charge a fee to attend events? No.
The SAA hosts two or three events a year and none of them request payments from alumni.
Why should I become a paid member if I receive a free e-newsletter and free access to most of the content on the website?
The reason why we are able to provide and maintain a free website, e-newsletter, Facebook and LinkedIN groups is because of the generous memberships contributions of our supporting members.
What are my membership benefits?
With a membership, you have access to the online directory as well as number of benefits that you can find on the "Benefits" area on our website. Throughout the year, we also give away tickets to shows and premiers by alumni in the arts, newly published books by alumni writers, and exclusive complimentary invitations to events and galas organized by alumni in different industries.
How are the membership-dues used?
It is not cheap to run a successful alumni association (even one made up of volunteers!). The association requires $30,000 year to operate.
Without contributions from our alumni, quite simply, you would not have an alumni association from Scarsdale High School.
To give you a tangible idea of how the dues help the association, last year, the price tag of our new content management web platform was very hefty, and this was only one line in our budget allocation. Behind the scenes we have over 20 different vendors providing our technology needs: centralized servers, backup, webhosting, web-development, flash-development, database improvement services, payment processing services, Facebook Connect and Ads, web 2.0 application developer tools, software, online polling, remote chat support, Google Adwords, Skype Business, VoiceOverIP services etc. In addition to this, we have the standard budget lines: accounting, insurance, mailing, materials cost, office expenses, maintenance, events, etc. Furthermore, to ensure the continuous improvement of the association, there's always the need for additional funds.
Are there any membership discounts? YES.
Free membership to recent grads (SHS2004-2009) and senior alumni (SHS1930-1949)
$15 membership for young alumni (1999-2003)
We are also always ready to accommodate any alumnus wanting to be a member that might need a discount based on current personal financial challenges.
Why has there been an increase on the yearly dues?
From an administrative point of view, processing small payments, notifying alumni and updating records were consuming 60% of our small group of volunteer’s precious time.
The dues have increased to $55 in order to invest in new technology that has dramatically reduced the time our volunteers spend in administrative tasks.
Our goal is to, very soon, offer all the benefits of the association at no charge to all alumni and rely on optional contributions.