Asheville City Schools Foundation

WE ARE

The Asheville City Schools Foundation’s mission is to collaborate with our community to do whatever it takes for all Asheville City Schools students to thrive. All of our programs are grounded in a pursuit of equity, desire to magnify the genius, encourage the curiosity, celebrate the joy, and support the aspirations of students and teachers.

Find us online at www.acsf.org and on social - Facebook: @ACSFound Instagram: @ACSF828

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OUR COMMITMENT

As a member of the United for Youth Network, we commit to:

Youth, Parent, Family Leadership, & Community:

  • Creating opportunities and programming for student voice to guide our work: student ACSF board members, Racial Equity Ambassadors (REAP), Dedicated, Responsible, Enthusiastic, After-school Mentors (DREAM), and internships with community partners such as UNCA and City of Asheville Youth Leadership Academy.
     
  • Highlighting the voice of parents through the Parent Leadership Program and Parent forums.
     
  • Using our organizational events to convene community around educational equity opportunities and challenges.
     
  • Employing ACSF staff and program providers reflective of our ACS student body.

Early Warning Response System (Learning Circle):

  • Collaborating with school leaders and other community partners within Learning Circle to develop strategic interventions for students to address Attendance, Behavior, and Coursework (ABCs) within In Real Life (IRL) After-School

Results-based Accountability:

  • Gathering and maintaining the transparency of IRL/REAP/Teaching Artist residencies/Scholarship program data through quarterly reporting at network committee meetings and the ACSF website.
     
  • Applying Results-based Accountability principles to our Social-Emotional Learning programming through quantitative and qualitative evaluations at the end of each program cycle.
     
  • Gathering IRL student, parent, and provider input through surveys conducted twice a year.
     
  • Creating clubs that reflect students' interests & hobbies.

Professional Development:

  • Funding professional development opportunities for students, parents, and teachers as well as the larger Asheville Community: Parent Forums, Black Scholars Forum, Equity Collaborative, REAP training, ACS district-wide equity training through entities such as Racial Equity Institute.
     
  • Training all IRL service providers in SEL best practices.
     
  • Funding annual professional development opportunities such as the Resources for Resilience training for the ACS Student Support Specialists.

What else category/Investments:

ACSF believes that how we allocate money is a reflection and demonstration of our commitment to racial equity in Asheville City Schools.

  • Funding for programming and scholarships is equitably and intentionally allocated to support Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) students.
     
  • Utilizing grant-making and institutional privilege to get larger public investment in the United for Youth vision, mission, and bold goal.
     
  • Distributing all of our resources equitably, including grants and scholarship awards.
     
  • Connecting students and families to resources and opportunities for success through programs such as our Emergency Assistance Program.
     
  • Expanding our network of diverse providers and paying them a stipend above living wage.
     
  • Continuing to provide IRL After-School programming at sliding scale to ensure each club is diverse, inclusive, and equitable.
     
  • Providing transportation to and from IRL After-School programming.
     
  • Compensating all of our student leaders with stipends (REAP) or hourly pay (DREAM) for their work in ACSF programming.

Network Collaborative Leadership:

  • ACSF Executive Director participating as a member of the Cross-Sector Leadership Team.
     
  • One ACSF staff serving as a member on the RBA workgroup.
     
  • At least one member of the IRL team participating in the EWRS workgroup.
     
  • At least two ACSF team members participating in Network calls and convenings.
     
  • Relevant staff and program participants serving on the AMS and AHS/SILSA Resource Teams.
     
  • Investing in our partnerships with ACS and UNCA to create transformational growth and leadership opportunities K-16.

 

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