Summit's 2018-19 Parent Fund

Summit's independence as a public charter school is what allows us to be the vibrant and tuition-free school we are, but our self-governance comes with a price. While we have tremendous creativity and flexibility in our curriculum, we receive significantly less funding than a traditional public school. In fact, government funds cover only 74% of the cost of educating each child at Summit.

Your gift to the Parent Fund, including donations from parents, grandparents and family businesses, helps Summit bridge the gap between what we receive from the government and the actual cost of educating a student. The goal for the 2018-19 school year is 100% participation and to raise $120,000 from our families. If we reach $120,000 by May 16, 2019, a very generous anonymous donor will give the school an additional $50,000. Wow! What an incredible opportunity for our school and community. Now, here's the fun part:

Grade-by-Grade Contest

This year we are hosting a grade-by-grade contest to show our Summit pride. We have identified prizes for each Basecamp and winners are based on the highest level of grade participation and giving, including:

• K-2 Basecamp: A day at Camp Merrie Woode, including swimming, rock climbing and canoeing
• 3-5 Basecamp: An outing to Cherokee, NC for bowling, arcade play and food
• 6-9 Basecamp: A day trip to Biltmore Park in Asheville, including a movie, Brixx Pizza and Cold Stone Creamery
• K-9 Overall: The grade with the overall highest level of participation and giving will win "free dress" for the remainder of school (May 20-30!)

What Does My Donation Support?

The Parent Fund supports Summit's operating budget, playing a crucial role in enriching the lives of our students and teachers. Gifts sustain our campus and provide special programs that make Summit unique. Examples include:

• Essential teaching and curricular materials to serve the needs of our students
  
• Recruitment and retention of extraordinary educators
  
• Hands-on field excursions to support our meaningful place-based curriculum
  
• EC programming to ensure students with disabilities develop intellectually, physically, emotionally, and vocationally through individualized education
  
• Extracurricular activities such as athletics, drama, jazz and chess club

Ways to Give

Giving to the Parent Fund is easy! From this page, you can make a one-time gift, divide your gift into several payments or establish an ongoing, automatic gift payment. Our suggested donation this year is $700 per student. Of course, we appreciate any amount and giving is not required. For the first time ever, you can contribute in three different ways:

• We would love for every parent to personally GIVE
  
• Parents can also RAISE money (do a raffle, donate a portion of the proceeds from your business one day a week, whatever else you can think of!)
  
• Parents can also FIND money (ask grandparents, ask the family business or foundation)
  

Please help us continue to open doors, fulfill dreams, change lives and prepare our students to lead. We are very grateful for every donor and every gift.

Parent Fund Co-Chairs: Tammy Bryson, Katie Bumgarner, Billy Leonard

Parent Fund Committee: Josh Crawford, Veronica Del Valle, Julie Doerter, Melissa Hudson, Sarah Jennings, Kati Miller, Danae Westendorf, Collins Zimmer