The Asheville City Schools Foundation believes in the collective wisdom and collaborative impact of our communities. ACSF is committed to hearing all voices and perspectives, leaning into difficult and honest conversations, and forging innovative partnerships to ensure that our city schools are a place where all of our children can thrive. ACSF has a storied history of engaging various civic, economic, public health, and religious sectors of Asheville to mitigate the opportunity gap and address inequitable student outcomes. As a local and statewide leader of community engagement, ACSF has partnered with the Institute for Emerging Issues to enhance our capacity and to cultivate more opportunities for community to lead within our city schools.
The evolution of our work and the ongoing partnerships we have built within our communities informs who we are as an organization. Now more than ever, our commitment to community engagement is imperative. Our 2022-2023 initiatives include a comprehensive equity plan, expanding the TAPAAS artists in residency program in collaboration with the Asheville Area Arts Council, deepening our UNC Asheville partnership, and expanding funding for initiatives that are a direct response to student and community voices.
In spring 2022, the Asheville City Schools Foundation received the national Civic Engagement Award from the Institute for Educational Leadership for our work organizing youth, families, and communities to advocate for an equitable public education system.
“ACSF is humbled and honored to be recognized for our work in civic engagement. Our mission is to do ‘whatever it takes for all ACS students to thrive.’ Each of our programs has evolved out of collaborations and listening projects with Asheville City Schools students, families, staff and our United for Youth network partners. We provide youth and adult learners access to transformational educational experiences during the school day and beyond. Our programs are grounded in a pursuit of equity and the desire to magnify the genius, encourage the curiosity, celebrate the joy, and support the aspirations of our students, teachers and staff.” – Copland Arnold Rudolph, Executive Director
An important part of our organization is the journey we are on to recognize how systemic racism operates within ourselves and within our schools. As an education organization, we value learning and have included a short list of learning resources that are currently informing our work as both individuals and as an organization. We ask our community to hold us accountable to our values by engaging in one of our many virtual engagement opportunities this year.