Asheville Middle School River Corps students, led by AMS teacher Will Yeiser on their fall retreat.

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Mission Our mission is to promote educational success for all Asheville City Schools students by engaging and mobilizing the entire community to support enriching and innovative educational activities. Belief Statements: • Public education is fundamental to a democratic and civil society. • Public schools are critical institutions in breaking the cycle of poverty. • The education of all students is the collective responsibility of the community. • Community support for adequate resources is essential to the success of public education. • Family involvement, essential to education and communication among parents, teachers, staff, administrators, and students, must be improved. • Public schools must nurture the potential and self-esteem of all students, respect each child’s individual learning style and empower every student to become an informed and productive citizen. What We Are Local Education Funds (LEFs) are nonprofit community-based organizations dedicated to increasing student achievement in public schools and building broad-based support for quality public education. LEFs are independent of the school districts in which they operate, have boards reflective of their communities, are professionally staffed and work with public school systems serving a significant population of low income at-risk students: an average of 53 percent of students in communities served by LEFs are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. LEFs collaborate with school principals, teachers, administrators, boards and districts, businesses, community organizations and local citizens to develop and implement whole school improvement strategies, create model programs, leverage resources, award grants and enhance the standing of public schools in the community. We always come from the position of acting in the best interest of the students. The ACS Foundation is supported by individual and corporate donations, grants from philanthropic organizations, special events, product sales and fee-for-service. The Foundation administers money raised from community for its programs. All of our programs are funded entirely by the community – the Foundation simply acts as a conduit and administrator for funds going to the schools, staff, and students.

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