Invest in your child's education today!
Summit faces funding challenges as a public charter school. Family donors make a financial commitment to close the gap between our funding shortage and what we need financially. Every donation made by 12/31 will be MATCHED, dollar-for-dollar, up to 100K.
A Letter from Summit's Head of School
Dear Summit Family,
Summit’s mission and the unique qualities of a Summit education are more important now than ever. As our community navigates the disruption and challenge of this current pandemic, Summit is uniquely positioned to ensure our students continue to discover, learn, and grow to become the leaders of tomorrow. Through small class sizes, expansive facilities, and outdoor learning spaces, Summit embraces opportunities for learning in dynamic and evolving contexts and settings. And, our incredibly dedicated faculty, families, and supporters enable us to adapt to the challenges before us while keeping our mission at the forefront each day.
A Summit education brings immense value to the lives of our students, a level of impact made possible by the continued support of our family donors. As a tuition-free public charter school, Summit receives only 75% of the public funding of a traditional public school and zero funding for capital improvements. To sustain the qualities of a Summit education, this year we need to raise $4,000 per student to close our funding gap. Meeting this goal includes multiple fundraising sources, including contributions from our families.
The theme of our annual campaign is "One Summit Family" -- because, truly, we are all in this together to ensure a quality education for our children. In this spirit of family, and in recognizing the value of this investment, longtime community supporter Don Sentell has agreed to a generous MATCHING GIFT of up to $100,000! Every gift received by December 31, 2020 through families and community members for the One Summit Family campaign will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, by Mr. Sentell. Thank you, Don, for your unwavering commitment to our school.
There are multiple ways to contribute to our “One Summit Family” campaign through our Family Fund:
- Give directly through a one-time or recurring donation
- Raise funds as a participant in a Family Fund fundraising event
- Find funds through the support of family members or other community sources
- Sponsor another Summit family’s contribution through a direct gift
Below please find our suggested giving levels and more information on ways to contribute to our One Summit Family Campaign through the Family Fund.
We are grateful for your support!
One Summit Family,
Kurt Pusch
Head of School
kpusch@summitschool.org
Family Fund Giving Levels (Per Student)
Family Fund contributions are appreciated in any amount and every dollar makes a difference! To help guide each family’s investment decision, we have also set three potential giving levels:
- $2,000 and above ($250+/month)
- $1,000 ($125/month)
- $500 ($62.50/month)
Ways to Contribute: Give, Raise, Find, Sponsor
There are multiple ways families can contribute to the Family Fund:
GIVE: Contributions can be made as direct dollar gifts to Summit, either as a single contribution or as monthly or weekly contributions of smaller amounts. Double your impact by making a gift by December 31, 2020!
RAISE: Contributions can be raised through participation in Family Fund fundraising activities* scheduled throughout the year, such as:
- Tamale Sales at Carline
- Raffles
- Holiday Gift Wrap Sales
- Christmas Tree Sales
- Fun Run (Spring)
*Each fundraising activity will be organized by a committee of parents. Proceeds from each activity will go toward the giving goals of the grade levels represented by the parent organizers. To sign up to help with a parent-led fundraising activity, or to propose an additional fundraising activity or event, please contact Kurt Pusch (kpusch@summitschool.org)
FIND: If you have additional family members, such as grandparents, who may be interested in supporting the Family Fund, their contributions can be applied toward a family’s contribution.
SPONSOR: We welcome family sponsorships of other families to support meeting our fundraising goals. If you are interested in sponsoring another family’s contributions to the Family Fund, please contact Development Director Melissa Hudson (mhudson@summitschool.org).
Benefits and Recognition
- Participation: Every grade level that reaches 100% participation in the Family Fund will receive a Free Dress Week! The first grade level to reach 100% participation will receive TWO weeks of free dress!
- Giving Goal: Every grade level will have a grade level giving goal based on the number of students in the grade. Each grade level that meets its giving goal will receive a pizza party and will get to Silly String Mr. Pusch in May!
2020 One Summit Family Parent Committee
Jennifer Douglass
Julia Boeve
Collins Zimmer
Isabelle Krueger
Kati Miller
Veronica del Valle
Samantha Cervantes
Jessica Moskowitz
Carrie Snoey
Michelle Dauble
Jason Dauble
Kim Tallent
Eduardo Cruz
Tim Boeve
- Hired new Head of School from one of the highest performing charter school networks in the United States
- Added 10th grade level and opened new high school facility
- Facilitated college tours and Pre-ACT, ACT, Advanced Placement (AP) programs to high school students
- Opened facility for fine arts and health & wellness programming
- Launched Curriculum Committee to adopt new mathematics curriculum to ensure all students achieve confidence, growth, and academic success in math
- Launched inaugural volleyball and high school basketball teams in new gymnasium
- Hired a full-time certified school nurse, thanks to a grant from the Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation
- Continued whole-child, individualized education with small class sizes
- In our third year of high school expansion, matriculated 78% of graduating 8th grade students to Summit's 9th grade–an increase from 57% the previous year
- Conducted 12th Annual Citizen Science Monitoring Program on the Appalachian Trail in partnership with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy
- Exceeded annual fundraising goals, including a student-led lemonade stand that raised over $200,000
- Formalized a committee to build and launch a facilities endowment
- Launched Booster Club to support growing athletics programming
- Offered our families a virtual learning progam within 24 hours of the school's COVID-19 closure and provided around-the-clock care to our families for meal assistance, healthcare support, and internet accessibility
- Created a phased re-opening plan for 2020-21 that followed state and CDC health guidelines, and emphasized the safety of our children, teachers, families and community
- Added a climbing tower–gifted by High Hampton Resort–to our campus and created climbing program
For donations by check, please make your check payable to the Summit Charter School Foundation and mail your gift to P.O. Box 2493, Cashiers, NC 28717.
Questions about your donation? Please contact Development Director Melissa Hudson at mhudson@summitschool.org or 828-743-5755 ext. 251.