Support Innovation in Education

Ways to Donate:

Directly: 

1. Write a check to ‘Innovations Academy’ and mail it directly to the school at: 5454 Ruffin Road. San Diego, CA 92123  OR
2. Donate via PURCHASEASE by following this DONATE LINK

OR

Ongoing requests from our teachers and staff that can be dropped off at the front office anytime.

• paper, scissors, pencils, pens and markers are always useful at school
•  Ipads and other technology

For simpler requests that can be picked up on weekly shopping excursions:

• Reams of Paper
• White Board Markers
• Cleaning supplies

2) Donor’s Choose

Support our teachers  by donating to their Donor’s Choose projects. Go to DonorsChoose.org and search “Innovations Academy” in “San Diego, CA”

3) In Kind Donations

Donate services! — Got a company that can print our handbooks, perform janitorial services, or read to our kids? Can you offer expertise in business operations, facilities, marketing, legal, etc? This is an invaluable way to support us. Yes, I have a service to offer!

Donate materials! — Does your company get new computers and equipment each year? Don’t let the old ones go to waste, goods are a wonderful in-kind donation that often end up in our landfills. We’re currently looking for materials to make our classrooms more home-like (such as lamps, art work, etc) as well as tech materials. Ask us first before giving an item away by emailing info@innovationsacademy.org and we will let you know if we need the item.

Why donate? The Case for Philanthropy:

Innovations Academy is a new kind of public school — independently operated and started from scratch by its founders.

As a public school of choice, Innovations Academy is held accountable for our academic performance. Unlike traditional public schools, we can be closed if we fail to achieve our educational and fiscal objectives. If successful, we will provide a quality education to the children in San Diego and serve as a model for improving the educational standards for charter and traditional public schools alike.

Innovations Academy cares very deeply about the children of San Diego and considers access to effective public education as the foundation of responsible citizenship in a just society. Innovations Academy firmly believes that:

• Every child deserves a superior education.
• Every child has the potential to succeed in school and in life.
• Innovations Academy provides a public education alternative built on autonomy and accountability to its consumers (students and families).
• Innovations Academy is a driver of new and innovative practices in education.
• Innovations Academy is an ideal way for donors to invest in public education.

While public education is a public responsibility, private support enables Innovations Academy to achieve superior results for all its students. As a charter school and non-profit corporation, we can operate without the many regulations that constrict traditional California public school districts, providing us the potential to be dramatically more effective than typical California public schools.

The Funding Challenge:

Innovations Academy has some unique funding challenges that makes philanthropic donations all the more important

• Facilities – Like many other charters, we are responsible for our utilities and the cost of running our building which includes landscaping, HVAC, utility bills, internet etc.
• Increased Bureaucratic Legislation has increased staffing needs- We prefer to keep our administrative staff as small as possible so that the majority of our funds can go most directly to students. Due to over legislation of charters in the past few years as well as COVID fund reporting, we could use more administrative support.
• Exceptional Programming – A core component of our program is bringing the arts, extra STEM (such as our engineering and nature studies classes), and a physical education instructor to our students which goes beyond what traditional public schools can currently afford to offer to their students.
• Low student/teacher ratio – We maintain a low student/teacher ratio of no more than 25 children to 1 teacher (and 20:1 in K). With more funding, our goal would be to maintain a ratio of no more than 20 children to 1 teacher in all classrooms, but due to the other funding challenges listed above we have raised our limit so that we can fiscally operate.

How Private Financial Support Can Benefit Innovations Academy

Innovations Academy urgently needs more additional funders of all kinds — individuals, foundations, and corporations. Smart investments from these various donor groups can help close our funding gaps and provide the resources we need to meet the following challenges:

• Address critical operational challenges and sustainability
• Lower  our 25/1 student/teacher ratio to 20/1
• Attract and maintain our best teachers by offering competitive salaries
• Maintain our programming in the arts, sciences, foreign language and physical education.

How Financial Support Can Benefit Donors

Potential donors are have the opportunity to play a key role in the charter school public education reform movement. Other benefits for private funders include:

• Help young people succeed
  • Your financial gift is a tangible, measurable step towards improving public education — one child and one school at a time.
• Positively impact the San Diego public school system
  • Charter schools like Innovations Academy strengthen the promise of American democracy: access for all to the best education available.
• Provide a superior education to the children of San Diego.
  • Your donation enables children to achieve their full potential and make a difference for their families, their communities, and themselves.
• Donors may make charitable donations towards specific programs or expenses.
• All donations are tax deductible.