About Us, and Why We Need YOU

If you’re here, then you already know the value of One Spark Academy, or you know someone who does. But to give you some background, 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 aged kids (and older) who, for a variety of reasons, don’t fare well in traditional settings. We receive NO state funding, nor are we independently wealthy. 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. That is why we became a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and that is why we are asking for YOUR help.

Learn more about us! For the FAQs of our program, go here. To see some of the awesome classes we offer, go here. To read about our annual outdoor adventure, go here.

How Your Donations Support Us

• Provide scholarships for students-in-need to take additional classes they couldn’t afford otherwise, as well as participate in enriching activities.
  • We aim to provide at least 5 current students with scholarships ranging from $175 per session (single class) to $350 per session (two classes).
• Supplement the expenditures for our unique courses.
  • Educational materials cost us, on average, $380 per month.
  • Our Healthy Lunch program is estimated to cost $45,000 in 2019-2020, between food, supplies, instruction, and staff just for lunchtime. Lunch per student runs $200 per session for 4 days/week.
• Provide for OSA teacher chaperones to attend our outdoor program to Yosemite in April 2020. The cost for each chaperone is $700 (which doesn’t account for a non-paid work week).
• Help us continue to grow while remaining accessible. Our Flex Plan (full-time) rate is discounted an average of $400 per full-time student, per month, from what our operational costs should require.

Here’s How You Can Help

• Help us reach $15,000 by donating whatever you can afford to this campaign before December 31, 2019. Your donation is tax-tax-deductable. Many companies also have partner matching. Consider your 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.
• Ask a family member to donate on your behalf. Maybe your child wants the “gift of giving” this holiday season by making a donation to OSA!
• Become a “Friend of One Spark” with a monthly contribution of any amount.
• Shop on Amazon Smile. Same Amazon, but a small % goes back to your charity of choice. To sign up, enter One Spark Foundation Inc (Newbury Park).