Goal: $140,000

Timeline: October 2026 to January 2027

Dear Siskiyou School families, friends, and community,

It's a funny thing, being a private non-profit school.

People hear private school and think of Harvard, of children in stuffy uniforms with ties, of entitlement and snobbery. People don't think of the other side of that image, the non-profit part. And sure, most private schools are non-profit and have a gazillion dollars in endowments and old money benefactors.

People don't think of a school that doesn't have state testing for their Kindergarteners, that doesn't put iPads in the hands of elementary students, that makes time for just digging up and looking at worms, that drags out logs for balancing on, that takes time to help develop hand strength for a good pencil grip by spending time on the monkey bars, that teaches 8th graders about times when our society was unfair and unjust and shows them how individuals stepped forward and changed it.

The Siskiyou School is a private school and a non-profit. We choose not to take state or federal funds that would dictate what we teach and require testing. And we are a non-profit, taking every cent we get and investing in the teachers and programs that make our children phenomenal human beings.

Thanks to our financially savvy board, we have paid off our mortgage, but we don't have an endowment. We are out of the scrappy times where we didn't offer our teachers health insurance, but we don't have a huge budget for field trips (but we did just get a set of matching mugs for tea at conferences!). We balance each dime carefully, understanding that tuition is a real stretch for most of our families, and we ask those that can, to give a little more.

Here's the thing. We live in a world where machines can now write essays, compose music, and pass the bar exam. Maybe you've seen the headlines too. And then I walk out onto our playground and watch a group of second graders work out, with no adult help at all, how to share one shovel among six people. No algorithm could have run that negotiation. It took patience, a little heartbreak, and a lot of eye contact.

That's the work we do here. We are raising children who can look someone in the eye, hold a hard conversation, work through a problem with their hands, and care about the person next to them. Curiosity, empathy, resilience, courage, imagination. As the world gets faster and more automated, those are the skills that will matter most, and they can only be learned from other humans, in real time, with real mud on their boots.

This year, our Annual Giving theme is Investing in Humanity, and we mean it quite literally. Every dollar goes toward the teachers who know our children by name and the classrooms where they grow into themselves.

Every year, there is a gap between what tuition covers and what it truly costs to educate a child here, about $1,800 per child. Each year, our Annual Giving Fund is our biggest and most important way of closing it. Your gifts support supplies, utilities, salaries, professional development, and all the day-to-day things that keep our classrooms humming.

This year, our goal is to raise $140,000 by the end of January.

I also know how much our families already give. You volunteer, sponsor, build sets, bake for festivals, and show up for every play and event. That is the heart of this place. Annual Giving is the one moment each year when we pause, think about what our school means to our children, and ask for a financial gift on top of all that, at whatever level is meaningful for your family. A gift of any size matters.

As always, we ask for 100% participation from our families. It isn't about the amount. Full participation makes us more competitive for grants, and it tells the world our community stands behind this school.

So here is my ask. Take a moment to think about who you hope our children grow up to be, how you hope humanity weathers the new technology we're wrestling with, and invest in the humans here.

Click the link below to donate online, or mail in a check to:

The Siskiyou School
631 Clay Street
Ashland, OR 97520

With gratitude (and a little dirt under my fingernails),

Kristin Beers
Administrator

Thank you for your support of the Siskiyou School!

All donations through Annual Giving to the school are tax deductible. Our mailing address is 631 Clay Street, Ashland, OR 97520.

You can send your donation through the link here, through a personal check or cash, or you can add your donation to your monthly tuition payment.

Oregon Cultural Trust
A contribution to the Oregon Cultural Trust allows you to leverage your donation to the Siskiyou School into potential tax credits. Learn more from their website at https://www.culturaltrust.org/.

Oregon Community Foundation
For those of you who are able to and desire to give a gift that ensures our healthy financial future, we have established an endowment fund through the Oregon Community Foundation.

Family Foundation Grants
The Siskiyou School has been blessed by gifts from family foundations affiliated with our community members. Please reach out to Cynthia Bower to discuss how our school might benefit from such a grant.

Legacy Gifts
Create lasting impact by naming the Siskiyou School as a beneficiary in your estate planning. Consult your estate attorney for the best format for that gift. Please advise Cynthia Bower if you are including the Siskiyou School in your planned giving.

Gifts of Appreciated Stock
Donating your appreciated stock creates a win-win for you and the Siskiyou School. By donating a stock you have held for over one year, you avoid paying capital gains tax on the appreciated value.

In Kind Donations
The Siskiyou School appreciates all sorts of items for our school, such as instruments, tools, garden supplies and specialty craft items. Please reach out and let us know if you have something to donate!

eScrip
Go to eScrip.com and follow the sign-up instructions to raise money for the Siskiyou School every time you shop at Market of Choice. They ask for only a few details, like your name and email. Select The Siskiyou School as the organization to support. With eScrip, register at least one debit or credit card. They only ask for the number—not the security code or the expiration date. It is very safe!

iGive
With iGive, install the iGive addon to your browser. This ensures that your online shopping will automatically benefit the Siskiyou School! Go to www.igive.com, type in your cause: Siskiyou School, and shop and follow the instructions for installing iGive.