Successful Schools in Action falls under budget axe

This just in from leadership at Successful Schools in Action:

Dear SSIA supporter,

It is with deep regret that we must inform you that after a decade of service to our Queen Anne and Magnolia public schools, Successful Schools in Action (SSIA) will be shutting its doors. After long deliberation and careful examination, the Board of Directors has concluded that while we believe in the mission and services of SSIA as much as ever, we are unable to find a way to financially sustain the organization.

For ten years, SSIA has supported our local schools including John Hay, Coe, The Center School, Blaine, Lawton, Queen Anne Elementary, and McClure. During that time:

More than 500 students have completed a program in Debate in the first primary school debate program in the United States.

More than 1,000 students have benefited from tutoring, helping them succeed in the classroom and setting them up for long-term academic success.

Art camps, parent workshops, summer school, and community conversations have enriched over 3,000 students and families throughout our community.

The above are only a handful of remarkable achievements pioneered for the students and families of Queen Anne and Magnolia schools by SSIA. But perhaps as important, SSIA developed a cooperative partnership where schools are not islands, but rather work together across our community to collaborate, share resources, and learn from each other.

Throughout the past decade, the schools and community told us that SSIA fulfilled a special and valued role. But sustainable funding for an independent school support organization requires long-term resources and support that we have not been able to identify. While we all love what SSIA does, we simply do not see a financial path forward to continue operating.

To all of you who have supported SSIA with your contributions of time or money, thank you. Every dime has been spent on something meaningful for the kids and public schools in our community. Every hour contributed has helped our students have a successful and rich school life. Please continue to support these schools in any way you can.

As we close this SSIA chapter, the Board would like to express its deep gratitude to Lisa Moore, who carried the torch for SSIA and built the organization up from scratch as our founding and only Executive Director. Lisa has truly touched and benefited thousands of people in her tenure at SSIA and we both congratulate her and wish her luck in her next fantastic adventure.

Closing an organization as special and important as SSIA is not an easy decision. But we hope many of the best attributes of SSIA – collaboration, academic enrichment, and community engagement – will continue on, fueled by the deep ties that have been forged through our Queen Anne and Magnolia schools over these past years.

We thank you for your support and wish all the best to our Queen Anne and Magnolia schools in the months and years ahead.

Steve Havas

President, Board of Directors