Dennis Chapman No goal out of reach

While on a visit to Fayetteville about a year and a half ago, Dennis Chapman and his wife Brooke were awakened at 5 a.m. Daughter Carly, then 5 years old, had a request.

Already bright-eyed and ready to go, she pleaded, "Please can we go back to The New School?"

So they did. Dennis Chapman returned that day, intent on taking the offer to become the new president and head of school for the independent school.

"I think that tells you everything you need to know," he says. "It's an incredibly special place, and we're just excited to be a part of it."

Since his arrival, the campus changed significantly, adding and opening a new preschool and administration building, a middle school student center, a tinkering studio and beginning a lively athletic department.

This fall, The New School opened an eighth grade and implemented first-time programs and clubs in baseball, cross country, cheerleading, volleyball, soccer and flag football.

Chapman had big shoes to fill as the first head of school to follow the founder. Bill Mandrell guided the school through its first 40 years, but staff and families say Chapman's done an outstanding job -- in part because he's paid homage to that rich heritage.

"He respects the history of our school," says Melissa Campbell, STEAM (Science, Technology, Education, Arts and Math) coordinator, who has worked there since 1998. "He implemented a Founder's Day to honor the past [leadership], but he also brought lots of new things.

"He brought new energy to the school and had a good balance of vision for the future, where we can go and what we can be."

What is that vision?

To be "a top-tier independent school," he says. "I've worked in two of them, and I know what that looks like. We can continue to up our game, continue the nurturing environment that's been the hallmark of this school and raise the academic profile."

So far, says longtime New School teacher Ruth Swain, that's where Chapman has led them.

"Dennis is very motivated in [having us] be the best independent school in Northwest Arkansas," she says. "He's very focused on where he wants the school to go."

As child development associate and lead teacher for 2-year-olds, Swain has seen Chapman's signature touch in the implementation of new names and improved fundraising.

"He's changed our identity from preschool and K to eighth to 'one school,'" she says. "This allows the community to see that preschool is a very important part in educating children."

Though there were some difficult financial decisions thrown in the mix, Swain saw Chapman rally the funds to take her school of 30 years to a new level. And it's no wonder. When he arrived more than a year ago, Chapman had a reputation for having led his former school's development team to grow a $200,000 endowment to $15 million (and a more-than $30 million fundraising track record over seven years).

For teachers, who often have plenty of fun, creative learning projects but a shortage of cash to do them, this could be a dream come true.

"The Tinkering Studio and community resources like Crystal Bridges have enriched what we do in the classroom," Campbell says.

She became coordinator, transitioning from her former position as fifth grade teacher, and works mainly in the Tinkering Studio, a hands-on, interactive learning workshop that uses carpentry and technology projects to engage students. The space was a collaboration of The New School and the Amazeum in Bentonville.

"When students come in, they use it in the way we hoped they would. They say, 'oh my gosh, did you see this happen?' with that energy that we hope would be there."

LIFE OF A SALESMAN

Long before his entry to the world of education, Chapman was a public relations representative for a minor basketball team, the Florida Beach Dogs. He had played plenty of sports himself -- football, basketball and baseball in high school -- and some basketball at Trinity International University.

After nabbing a degree in mass communications from Palm Beach Atlantic College, Chapman set his sights on TV sports, with ESPN as the end goal. It had wound him round to an internship with WPTV West Palm Beach, an NBC affiliate, some years as a sports writer for the Palm Beach Post and finally into PR for sports teams.

When the Beach Dogs folded, Chapman and the rest of the staff found out when they showed up to work to find their checks taped to the locked office door.

The unexpected event launched him into a career of working with nonprofits, beginning with an advertisement he answered for the Children's Miracle Network in 1999. Having done some telemarketing in the past with some success, Chapman fell into the fundraising scene, focusing first on the Florida Children's Hospital, then later with the American Cancer Society in 2001 and as district director for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in 2003.

"I didn't set out to be in the nonprofit sector, but that's where I found myself and began to embrace it," Chapman says. "I realized I liked the work, and it was good to give back in a small way."

Fundraising was not unlike sales, and that was something he could do.

In his stint with the Florida Beach Dogs, he went up against the other salesmen for a new commission arrangement. The parameters had changed from selling tickets within territories (regions, geographic areas) to categories (types of fans who would come to the game together).

Chapman chose the category of churches, partly because he was raised Southern Baptist and knew a thing or two about the church culture. He broke out the 3-by-5 Rolodex and simply called 500 churches in Florida, suggesting the tickets as a great youth group outing, singles event and family special.

The return was so great that his employer changed the rules on commissions.

The way he saw it, fundraising for nonprofits was handing someone a great chance to make a difference in other people's lives -- and a difficult thing to say no to.

"People always said, 'Boy, I bet it's hard to ask people for money,' but I never really looked at it that way," Chapman says. "I always looked at it as an opportunity to invest in the organization I'm with."

Organizing large benefit events like the Relay for Life gave him the experience with bigger scale logistics, keeping to an important, prescribed schedule and not letting any details fall through the cracks.

Kevin Rolston, a morning show host for "The Kevin, Virginia & Jason Show" in Palm Beach, met him through the event.

"Dennis has a big heart and is a really solid guy," he says. "He would come to me with various charitable things he had ... and got it. His demands were realistic and had a good idea of what kind of message [his organization] needed."

Something about the work spoke to Chapman's natural tendency to help others.

"The way he treats others is to always leave them better after he meets them," Rolston says. "He's the kind of friend that will give you anything and will always be there, through the good and bad."

THE BEST INVESTMENT YOU'LL EVER MAKE

If fundraising for children and the health of your neighbor was an obvious choice, investing in the education of your children was a no-brainer. Chapman entered independent schools in 2004 when he took a development job with The Benjamin School.

"It was a natural marriage, a not-for-profit and a school," he says. "It's something I really enjoyed because I love working with students and liked ... the fundraising.

"Schools are even more an easy solicitation, if you will, because it's about their kids, which should be your No. 1 priority and No. 1 philanthropic opportunity."

Chapman centers his development efforts on relationship building -- identifying parents who would make good leaders or who are already there, empowering teachers and staying connected to students. That leadership style was around from the start.

When joining The Benjamin School, "he was very welcoming to me, taught me the ins and outs of what goes on at the school," says friend and former colleague Lee Peterson. "He's committed to making others around him stronger; gets them to reach a little higher than they're used to and in a way that makes you feel comfortable."

It led very quickly to a similar gig, head of development, at the Out-of-Door Academy in Sarasota, Fla., where he built the annual fund and fundraising efforts over six years. Chapman found, upon his arrival, an expensive gala thrown annually and not much attention on the annual fund, which he calls fundraising's bread and butter.

He quickly eased the benefit's expenses, moved the event from fall to spring and set up a capital campaign for $15 million.

What was the key to making that happen? Parent-to-parent participation. They encouraged those who had already made large gifts to make a slightly more substantial one, with the incentives of exclusive gatherings, gifts and leadership levels.

Having an affable guy at the helm certainly helped.

"Dennis always greets you with a smile and a warm hello," says Virgene Linse of the Out-of-Door Academy. "His door is always open, and he's a very Christian man, really exhibits that.

"He really tries to do the right thing all the time; even when it's a hard thing to do, he does it with humility."

"Dennis is just kind of an all-around nice guy," says Lauren Hersh, director of annual giving at the Out-of-Door Academy. "He's professional, personable and knows his stuff. He understands the workings of the school, and I knew he would be a great fit."

It worked, leading more than 100 parents to give $2,500 or more, and the capital campaign exceeded its goal when it reached $20 million.

"We transformed both of our campuses, and did that in the middle of tough economic times," Chapman says. "When we started in 2006, we were hemorrhaging money, and now it's in a position of incredible strength.

"At the end of the day, people were willing to invest in vision."

It wasn't just good for the school's pocketbook and programs, it was good for the students.

"The key to growth of the school and academic success of the child is directly linked to parent involvement," Chapman says.

BLUE SKY GUY

While getting started in schools, Chapman coached a little basketball and baseball -- a habit he'd had since a job as youth director at a church back home -- and played pickup basketball a couple mornings a week with his co-workers.

"The kids [on his team] not only liked him, but they respected him," Peterson says. "For eighth grade boys basketball, it's not easy to do."

It's basketball that he loves to play (carefully) with his 3-year-old son Cooper and basketball that introduced Chapman to his wife Brooke.

At an end-of-the year teachers' gathering, a friend of theirs set Dennis up with another teacher friend. The two didn't have much in common, but his potential date had brought a friend who was an avid fan of both the Miami Hurricanes and the Heat, the latter of which was winning the 2006 championships. The two had a lot to talk about.

A week later, they ran into each other at a basketball game. After a series of dates called season tickets, the two were engaged at Christmas and married in July of 2007.

"I could tell right away how honest he was," Brooke Chapman says. "He's the type of person that what you see is what you get -- there are no hidden things about him.

She loved "how driven he is, how motivated he was to better himself constantly," she says.

When Dennis is tuned into the teacher voice or planning something new for the school's activities and curriculum, which is most of the time, he often turns to Brooke to hash things out and get the teacher perspective.

Chapman hopes to raise the standards of education, not just for The New School, but for independent schools all over the country. But he knows he can't do it alone. It takes a team, and he has one with Brooke, The New School and the Northwest Arkansas community.

"School should be a place that your kid can't wait to get up and go in the morning," he says. "They should jump out of bed, ready."

NAN Profiles on 09/13/2015