The Great Hearts Foundation · est. 2010
The work that public dollars cannot reach.
Charter per-pupil funding builds adequate schools. The Foundation builds beautiful ones — libraries, music halls, science laboratories, faculty development, scholarship endowments, the Institute.
The Case for Support
A classical school is not a building with a curriculum.
A classical school is a community that has, against the spirit of its age, recovered the conviction that some books are better than others, that the mind has shape and proportions, that virtue can be taught, and that the truth is real. That conviction was nearly extinguished in the second half of the twentieth century. Great Hearts has been one of the institutions to rebuild it.
Public charter dollars fund the academic floor. They build classrooms, hire teachers, meet the state's minimum requirements. They do not fund the marble inscription above the door. They do not fund the second piano in the music hall, the chemistry lab that runs to mid-July, the senior thesis defenses, the trip to the Met, the visiting scholar from Oxford. Those are the things the Foundation funds.
What the Foundation funds
Four categories of work.
— I —
Facilities
Charter per-pupil funding builds adequate buildings; the Foundation builds beautiful ones. Library reading rooms, music halls, dedicated science laboratories, and athletic facilities are funded through private giving — not state allocation.
— II —
Faculty Development
The Academy for Classical Teachers (ACT) and APEX School Leadership programs train Great Hearts faculty in the classical method. Donor support makes those programs possible at the depth and pace that the network's growth requires.
— III —
Scholarship Endowments
For graduating seniors who carry the work into college — and for the rare circumstance where a family's situation requires bridge support that public funds cannot provide. Named scholarships honor faculty, families, and founding traditions.
— IV —
The Institute
The Great Hearts Institute hosts the National Symposium for Classical Education, publishes resources for the broader classical movement, and convenes scholars at the intersection of classical pedagogy and American civic formation.
Giving Levels
Recognition by tradition, not by tier.
The Founders' Circle
$25,000+
Named recognition. Private headmaster correspondence. Standing invitation to the Symposium.
The Sustainers' Society
$10,000–$24,999
Network-wide recognition. Annual donor convocation. Dedicated development liaison.
The Patrons
$2,500–$9,999
Campus-level recognition. Annual donor reception. Headmaster's letter.
The Stewards
$500–$2,499
Annual report acknowledgment. Donor newsletter. Foundation annual gathering.
Friends
Up to $499
Donor newsletter. Annual report acknowledgment. Standing invitation to public lectures.
The Development Office
Speak with us directly.
Genevieve Peterson, CFRE
Chief Development Officer
foundation@greatheartsamerica.org
Major-gift conversations begin with a private letter, a phone call, and — in most cases — a campus visit. Network development staff coordinate with each campus's headmaster and chair of board so that giving aligns with the work you most want to see grow. Estate planning, donor-advised fund transfers, and named-fund structures are all available; the development office walks each donor through their preferred vehicle.