October 2025

Seventh graders set sail on the Salish Sea School boat trip to learn all about life in our local waters. Fidalgo and Island View fifth graders took to the mountains for Outdoor School (Mt. Erie will head up in the spring). Several third grade classes hiked, skipped and tiptoed through our forestlands with Friends of the ACFL, learning things like how to safely handle nettles and the difference between sword and fiddlehead ferns. And that’s just a sample of our STEM donations at work.

In addition, our mental health funding has put in place social workers, behavior specialists, and school psychologists. And let’s not forget about art. At the secondary level, our arts funding helps buy supplies, instruments and equipment for the visual and performing arts departments. At the elementary level, September and October brought art lessons for students at Fidalgo and Mt. Erie.

Next week, third grade students start diving into swim lessons at Fidalgo pool, a program that allows all third grade classes the opportunity to take six lessons over the course of three weeks.

None of this enrichment would be possible without you, our donors and sponsors. Thank you. In fact, later this month we will show donors just how grateful we are at our fall donor appreciation school tour, hosted this year by Mt. Erie.

As colorful leaves descend and the sun sets earlier each day, our board welcomes this time of year by gearing up for our biggest and most important fundraising event of our year: Celebrate the Season. Our procurement team has already snagged some amazing auction items, and our committee is working hard to transport guests to an evening of winter lights and delights on Friday December 5. Save the date and plan to attend the most spectacular party of the season.

If you’d like your donations to have the greatest impact, please consider our planned giving options. You can donate stocks or name ASF as a beneficiary of your retirement plan or IRA.