Mission

Our Mission

Our mission is to collaborate with our community to do whatever it takes for all Asheville city schools students to thrive.

The Asheville City Schools Foundation (ACSF) was founded in 1988 by parents, community members, and school personnel to increase local support for public education. Over our thirty-four year history, the growth of ACSF has meant the onset and integration of important programs providing training for teachers, after-school mentorship and scholarship opportunities for students, emergency assistance funding for student families, as well as volunteer and advocacy resources for our community. Since 2000, the Foundation has provided over $1.9 million to projects that directly support the students and educators in our schools and over $3.2 million to students through scholarships. 

Values and beliefs

• We believe in the genius of every child and that each deserves a high-quality education

• We believe equitable public schools are essential to sustaining our democracy

• We value diverse community voices and believe collaborative engagement of the community creates a vibrant and equitable school system

• We value our teachers and staff. We believe in providing resources and opportunities that inspire excellence in teaching and learning

• Fun, love, safety, growth and collaboration are the core values of our programming for youth. We believe in supporting students to live a curious life and to follow their dreams.

• We believe that how we allocate money reflects and demonstrates our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in Asheville City Schools. 

Commitment to Equity

• We will do whatever it takes to center anti-racist, equitable practices in every facet of our organization including finances, programming, and operations.

• We will do whatever it takes to include student voice in guiding our organization; we commit to asset framing, recognizing the genius, joy and aspirations of our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color) students in particular who have been most impacted by inequities in our school system, city, and nation.

• We will do whatever it takes to share our humanity: as an organization committed to lifelong learning, we are committed to growing through our mistakes and our successes. 

• In that spirit, we encourage and invite our ACS community’s feedback and partnership. To support accountability and to be accessible as we continue to do this work, we hope you’ll share your ideas, questions, and experiences.

For questions or for more information, please contact:

Copland Arnold Rudolph
Executive Director
copland@acsf.org
(828) 350-6174