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The Foundation Campaign

Investing in Our Teachers, Securing Our Future

2025 is Our Year!

We have the opportunity to pay off the loan on our school building this year, which will allow us to raise teacher salaries and secure the financial future of the school for years to come. This has been a collective dream that began more than 25 years ago when Raleigh Charter opened its doors, and it can become a reality now – but only with your help! 

Foundation Campaign Update: January 2025

 

Our founders envisioned a school where experienced, talented, caring teachers would provide excellent education and a supportive learning environment to a student body of citizen-learners. Their original vision relied on high-quality educators, and included compensating faculty at a level that adequately reflects their years of experience and dedication to our students and our school. Our teachers are at the heart of everything we do. Their hard work and steadfast commitment to our students and our school are the foundation of all we have accomplished and all we endeavor to accomplish in the future. Unfortunately, many of our experienced faculty members are being compensated at a level that is lower than what they could make teaching in a traditional local public school.

 

This is our year to come together as a community to improve this reality for our teachers. The loan on our building is due at the end of 2025. Rather than renegotiate our loan at what will certainly be a significantly higher interest rate than our current terms, we are dedicated to paying it off. A few years ago, we set out to raise $1.5 million to eliminate our mortgage expense, and our community has already generously contributed $550,000 toward this effort. We have $950,000 left to raise! With the end of our loan term in sight, please donate now. 

 

If you would like to discuss opportunities to partner with RCHS in this effort, please contact us. We are excited about this opportunity!

 

Paul McSorley, Chair, RCHS Board of Directors

Jameson Marks '03, Chair, RCHS Foundation Board of Directors

Lisa Huddleston, Principal
Margaret Barnett '08, Director of Development & Communications

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You can help make our dream a reality!

 

Increasing compensation for our faculty has always been our goal, but for every year since we opened, limited state funding has remained an immovable obstacle in our progress. As a charter school, we do not receive public funding to pay for our building and facilities. Donations to the Phoenix Fund play a vital role in paying for our day-to-day essential expenses, but even with this annual support we have never been able to pay teachers at a level commensurate with their experience and importance to our institution.

 

Thanks to generous contributions from our families and community, along with careful financial planning, our Board has been able to consistently approve bonuses and salary raises for the past several years. However, even with these advancements, many RCHS teachers are still making 5 to 7% less money teaching here than they could in other local public schools. 

 

Paying off the loan will free up approximately $500,000 in annual operating funds. Our first and immediate priority with the freed up funds will be to sustainably increase compensation for our dedicated teachers and staff. 

 

Increasing salaries is not only the right thing to do to take care of our teachers who are here now, but offering competitive pay is also crucial to our ability to attract and retain the new teachers. We are committed to maintaining a faculty of high-quality educators. To do so, we must provide what is needed to ensure that RCHS is not only an excellent school for students to learn and grow, but also an excellent place for educators to teach and to work. 

 

There have been many times throughout our school’s history where we have asked for help and each time our caring community has met us with an outpouring of generosity. We invite you to support the Foundation Campaign and join us in our effort to realize our long-term goal of competitively compensating our dedicated faculty.

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​​WAYS TO GIVE

 

If you would like to discuss opportunities to partner with RCHS in this effort, please contact Margaret Barnett, Director of Development, at mbarnett@raleighcharterhs.org.

A History of Heartfelt Support

  • 1999: A group of visionary parents and educators founded Raleigh Charter High School, and we opened our doors at Pilot Mill on Haynes Street. 
     

  • 2009: After a decade of rental and rising costs, our school leadership determined that it was time to find a permanent home for our school. The RCHS Foundation was established to help with the process of purchasing a building and securing the long-term financial stability of the school. Through a major capital campaign,our community raised over two million towards the purchase of the building. This included an incredible one million dollar anonymous gift. 
     

  • 2011: RCHS moved to its permanent location at 1307 Glenwood Avenue. This move was made possible by our community’s generous financial support as well as hundreds of hours of volunteer work.
     

  • 2017: We introduced the Foundation Fund to serve as a fundraising vehicle for our goals and aspirations beyond the Phoenix Fund. Gifts to the Foundation Fund support two primary goals: steadily and sustainably increasing teacher salaries and maintaining our school building for the long term. Since its inception, current and past families have provided tremendous support to the Foundation Fund in recognition of our teachers and in appreciation of the education we provide. 
     

  • Spring 2020: During the extreme anxiety and uncertainty of the pandemic, we received a gift that has truly accelerated our progress towards these goals. This anonymous $2 million gift brought us up to a new level where our goals are within reach. 
     

  • 2021: Reinvigorated by this amazing gift, we launched a special initiative for the Foundation: The Foundation Campaign is focused on raising $1.5 million – the amount needed to pay off the building and free up funds for our teachers. 
     

  • As of January 2025, in addition to steady support of the annual Phoenix Fund, our community has already raised $550,000 for the Foundation Campaign. We need your help to raise the remaining $950,000 to finish the campaign, pay off our loan, and achieve our forever dream of increasing teacher compensation.

Charitable Giving Information​

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Raleigh Charter High School and Raleigh Charter High School Foundation are two separate 501(c)(3) charitable organizations. Your gift is tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

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  • For gifts to the Phoenix Fund, direct your donation to Raleigh Charter High School (Federal tax ID: 56-2121381)

  • For gifts to the Foundation Fund, direct your donation to Raleigh Charter High School Foundation (Federal tax ID: 26-4266980).

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If you have questions, please contact the Development Office at development@raleighcharterhs.org.

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