june 2025 update
25-26 school year grants due friday!
Capital High School Choir students sing during one of their six performances this year. Many students struggle to pay for their required uniforms for school classes. Thanks to an Opportunity Grant from the Foundation, Capital's choir director was able to begin building a closet of choir uniforms so her students have equal access to them for years to come.
Cultivate student potential with a Foundation grant!
The application for Olympia Education Foundation grants for the 2025-2026 school year is open until 5 p.m. Friday, June 20, to Olympia School District staff who work directly with students.
Looking to support a project that will help cultivate student potential at your school? Review our guidelines, get your principal or supervisor's approval, then complete and submit a simple Google Form, available here.
The Foundation's Opportunity Grants support schools in every building in the district with a variety of needs -- from library books to musical instruments, P.E. equipment, special classroom projects -- and so much more.
Capital High School Choir Director Leah Dowers is one of more than 100 grantees awarded funding from the Foundation during the 2024-2025 school year.
"The need for (financial) assistance for choir uniforms has grown exponentially," Dowers shared in her Opportunity Grant application.
Thanks to the funding she received from the Foundation, she was able to establish a closet of uniforms, which she can loan to students who can't afford to purchase one, so all of her students have equal access to the dresses needed for their performances.
"Many families emailed me at the beginning of the year anxious about the fee for the choir dress, and it was absolutely thrilling to be able to free them from the charge and ensure their student had access to a dress! I'm SO thankful that students for years to come will be able to use these dresses!"
Opportunity Grant requests may be made in any amount up to $2,000. (Exception: Browsers Books Grants have a limit of $500).
Applicants who submit their request for the upcoming school year by Friday will be notified of the status of their request by mid-August, and funds will be made available by Sept. 8.
This is the first of only two application periods for the upcoming school year. The second will open Aug. 25, 2025, and close Oct. 24. Applicants will be notified by Nov. 14, with funds available by Nov. 24.
win $10,000 by supporting the foundation!
$10,000 up for grabs at this year's Golf Scramble!
Registration remains open for this year's Olympia Education Foundation Golf Scramble, which is set for Friday, July 11, 2025, at Capitol City Golf Club (with a 1:30 p.m. shotgun start). As always, it benefits our Principal's Emergency Fund -- and all of our work to cultivate student potential.
This year, thanks to South Sound Vasectomy's sponsorship, every player will have the opportunity to will $10,000. Just hit a hole in one on Hole 16, and the prize money is yours!
Team and individual registration is available here through June 27.
Sponsorships are also available at multiple levels -- and many include teams of four.
We look "fore-ward" to seeing you at the Olympia Education Foundation Golf Scramble this July!
save the date
Rise & Shine with us on Oct. 3! Tickets and sponsorships available now
Summer may not have even officially begun yet, but we are so excited about our fall event -- and we know how quickly calendars fill -- that we are asking you to save the date for Rise & Shine for Students!
The morning will begin with a short program, during which you'll hear how your support of our Principal's Emergency Fund, Opportunity Grants and Student & Community Well-Being efforts helps cultivate student potential.
Stick around after to mingle and enjoy pastries and coffee -- or take yours to go if you need to get on with your day!
We hope to see you at this free event on Oct. 3. Donations appreciated.
haggen helps raise $6,000 for students!
We want to give another enormous shout out to the Haggen Foundation for selecting us to be one of the beneficiaries of their 2025 Building Brighter Futures Together campaign. Thanks to them, and the generosity of Haggen shoppers, $98,000 was raised -- and $6,000 of that will benefit Olympia School District students who have urgent basic needs through our Principal's Emergency Fund.