Please scroll down to learn more about this campaign, why your support is needed, and special gifts for minimum donation amounts.
Swipe through to see our students in action
Our Campaign will run from November 15, 2024 through January 3, 2025 (seven weeks)
$14,700 of $25,000 raised
Campaign Details:
One Spark Academy (OSA) has been a lifeline to many families whose children need a small, flexible, and nurturing place to learn. Like many small businesses, the journey through a pandemic challenged us, with three successive years of reduced enrollment, as well as pivoting in myriad ways and through multiple locations. In December 2021, we had the opportunity to settle at the Conejo Valley YMCA, which closed in September 2021. Our move was expensive, and we continue to spend more than we can afford on upgrades, but we thoroughly enjoy this beautiful space, and will continue to for however long we can! The GREAT news is that this year, 2024-2025, our numbers have finally rebounded, to pre-pandemic levels. However, we estimate it will take at least two more years to rebuild our revenue loss from the past four years. Thankfully, the success of last year’s campaign kept our doors open. (You can view our list of donors from our 2023-2024 Giving Campaign here). Because of YOU, our students didn’t miss a beat getting the exceptional education that One Spark Academy provides.
We continue to need your support. Whether by way of a small or large tax-deductible* gift, every single donor helps us by giving what they can. If you donated last year, we hope you consider your investment money well spent, and that you’ll consider donating again this year.
Our goal for this year’s Giving Campaign is $25,000 raised between November 15, 2024 and January 3, 2025. Scroll down to see how we will use those funds.
All donors will be listed at the bottom of this page (unless they request to remain anonymous). Listed donors will include our Friends of One Spark who contribute monthly. No contribution amounts will be listed.
*One Spark Academy is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation: One Spark Foundation, Inc. (EIN #46-1210961)
About Us, and Why We Fundraise
One Spark Academy was founded in 2011 with one mission in mind: to give kids who need something different a path to a great education. We’re a small learning center for middle-school students (and some who are older) who, for a variety of reasons, benefit from a non-traditional setting. Although we are a vendor and partner with several public charter schools, we receive no state funding. We rely on registration fees and donations to do what we love to do: teach kids well!
We have never charged families what it actually costs to run OSA. Many families cannot afford a private education, so staying accessible to more families is a priority. That is why we became a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and that is why ask for YOUR help. Consider your tax-deductible donation an investment in the future of our community. You never know who will need us– your child, a neighbor’s, a friend’s, a co-worker’s. Many companies also match your donation to a non-profit.
Learn more about us: For the details about our program, go here. To see some of the awesome classes we offer, go here. To watch our home page video, go here.
Make it monthly! You can become a “Friend of One Spark” with a monthly contribution of any amount. Huge thanks to those who already contribute monthly.
How Your Donations Will Support Us in 2024-2025
- Support important upgrades and maintenance costs. As a tradeoff for relatively low rent, OSA takes care of maintenance for the interior and some exterior spaces we use. Although we don’t know how long we can stay, maintenance and upgrades not only keep the campus safe and comfortable, but help our students and programming NOW. This year, our needs include:
- Continuing maintenance costs for AC and heating, with old units in need of TLC;
- Materials for the fencing and an herd garden to add to our orchard outside the activity room (class project);
- Labor/ material costs to refurbish the existing staircase to the Activity Room;
- New materials and lab equipment for our science classes
- Provide scholarships for students-in-need to take additional classes they couldn’t afford otherwise. That need continues to be great for several families.
- We’d like to be able to provide at least five current students with scholarships ranging from $250 (single class) to $500 per session (two classes).
- Support the added expenditures for our 2025 Outdoor Adventure such as chaperones and an additional rental vehicle, if needed.
- Supplement our payroll budget.
- Our teachers work hard! But it will take us a while to dig out from the debt we incurred during and after COVID (about $75,000!). That has meant that many expenses are coming out of our personal accounts.
- Success in this campaign will provide for added hours for teachers, which are much-needed based on rising costs everywhere.
- Help us continue to grow while remaining accessible. Our Flex Plan (full-time) rate is discounted an average of $400 per month, per full-time student, from what our operational costs should require.
PERK #1: OSA Family Donation
For a donation of $300 or more, your current student will receive a copy of our beautiful, full-color 2023-2024 yearbook. (Value: $45)
PERK #2: Community Donation
For a donation of $300 or more, you will receive a hand-written card from a student or staff member, sharing what your support means to them.
Perk #3: Community Donation
For a donation of $500 or more, you will receive a lovely gift made for you by an OSA student. You’ll be contacted to confirm.
Thank You to Our Donors!
We are incredibly grateful for every single gift, small or large, that comes our way. Every person listed here made a big difference One Spark Academy.
Isabel Syder
Jon & Jerri Baker
Carolyn Corwin
Robyn & Seth Brady
Margaret Geist
Kathy & Rod Leard
Jack and Lori Saunders
Lori Peters & Todd Geist
Brad & Christina Peters
Ron & Connie Peters
Desiree & Joe Rios
Donna Langley
Lisa Henningsen Carmona
Nasrin Rezvani
Justin & Jolie McNulty
Karen Oxrider & Brad Keiffer
Alison & Jim Doucette
Lisa Powell
Bobbie Menkes
Organic Gardening Club
Dave & Shannon Gilbertson
Tim Handley
Rick & Bambi Peters
Christopher Morrison
Jaquelyn Semirjyan
James Moynihan
Jennifer Naylon
TacMit Emergency Services
Kathy Volz
Roger & Teresa DeBruno
Brad Holt
Keri Kraft
Kristen Weirich
Allen Imbarrato
Molly & Josh Colletta
Reed Podell
Cindy & Alan Pevar
Max Samimi
Homa & Ali Farrokh
Kitty Brown
Stella Prudhomme
The Rodgers Family
Jeanette Hosek
Maya & Steve Tenenbaum
Laura & Hernan Erlig
Jerrie & Sally Eaton
Susan & Rich Eaton
Donna Stropoli
The Mischel Family Foundation
Randy & Susan Peters
Jim & Monica Sayre
Allison Brandt
Michele Fegley