For Current Parents
Your child's teacher may be funded by the Foundation right now. Join Heroes for Heights and make sure that teacher is here next year too.
Give MonthlyInvest in... Our Community. Our Schools. Our Future.
The problem
Your Local Taxes Don’t All Stay in Your Local Schools
Alamo Heights ISD collects strong local school-tax revenue, money you and your neighbors already pay. Under the state’s school finance system, a significant share of it is redirected elsewhere before it reaches a classroom here. More than $724 million has left this district this way since the 1990s, under a process called recapture.
That gap doesn’t show up on a spreadsheet somewhere far away. It shows up as a teaching position AHISD can no longer afford on its own — with $12.9 million recaptured this year alone.
Learn About the Funding GapOur Schools Receive
$1,525
less per student than the next lowest-funded district in Bexar County.
Whether you have a child in a classroom right now, walked these halls yourself, or simply believe in what this district stands for: that gap is the reason the rest of this page exists.
How it works
Here’s Exactly What Happens
When You Give
The Foundation does one thing: it turns private gifts into funded teaching positions in AHISD classrooms, earmarked for the teacher they fund.
- 1
You Donate To The Foundation
Through the Annual Teacher Fund, a monthly gift, or the Heights First Endowment.
- 2
The Foundation Delivers It
Those dollars go straight to AHISD, earmarked for teaching positions. $2.5 million this year, the largest annual gift in Foundation history.
- 3
Teachers Stay
Thirty teachers stay in Alamo Heights classrooms. Class sizes stay manageable. Your neighbor's kid, or yours, keeps the teacher the state funding formula couldn't guarantee.
Decided locally, not by Austin.
Every dollar is accounted for, year after year.
See Our Annual ReportsProof
Why You Can Trust
This Works
This isn’t a new idea, and it isn’t untested. In 1971, Alamo Heights created the first public school foundation in the United States. Fifty-five years later, their children and grandchildren are still answering — the annual gift to AHISD has grown to $2.5 million, and this community hasn’t missed a single year.
55 yrs
Of uninterrupted giving, since 1971
$2.5M
Delivered to AHISD this year
30
Teaching positions funded
17,000
Alumni connected nationwide
4,900
Students across 5 campuses
What your gift protects
The state calls these Non-Essential
The librarian who knows your child by name. The counselor who caught a hard semester early. The band director, the art teacher, the AP calculus class. None of them sit inside the state's definition of basic education. Without this community, they are the first to go.
Student Support
- Librarians
- Nurses
- Counselors
- Campus Tech Coordinators
Specialized Teaching
- Gifted & Talented Teachers
- Art, Music & PE Teachers
- Foreign Languages
- Learning Labs
Advanced Academics
- AP & Pre-AP Classes
- Calculus & Statistics
- Biology II & Chemistry II
- Journalism, Debate & Creative Writing
Arts & Athletics
- Band
- Choir & Orchestra
- Drama
- All Sports Programs
Ways to give
Every option funds the same thing:
A Teacher
Whatever you choose, it flows through the same mechanism, into a funded teaching position in an AHISD classroom. Every dollar stays local, and gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Most impact Heroes for Heights
$100+ per month
Sustaining monthly support that keeps teacher funding predictable year to year.
Become a Hero
Mules Monthly
$10+ per month
Monthly giving at any level. Small gifts compound across the school year to fund classroom essentials.
Give monthly
One-Time Gift
Any amount once
A single contribution that funds a teaching position directly. Suggested gift: $1,525, one student's share of the gap.
Give nowWhy community investment matters
"It is Community Investment, not state funding, that is sustaining the exceptional education Alamo Heights is known for."
Dr. Dana Bashara
Superintendent, Alamo Heights ISD
Get involved
Find Your Place in The Foundation
Whether you have a child in our schools today, have walked these halls yourself, or simply believe in the future of this community, there is a place for you and a meaningful way to make a difference.
For Alumni
Alamo Heights shaped who you are. The teacher who changed your trajectory may still be in that building. Give back to what gave you everything.
Honor a Teacher
For Major Donors
The Heights First Endowment is a $10 million campaign to permanently fund this district's future. It is the kind of philanthropic vehicle typically reserved for private universities. We are building it for a public school district.
Schedule a Briefing
For Neighbors
You don't need a child in this district to feel its effect on this city. Alamo Heights has a 98.4% four-year graduation rate and produces the next generation of San Antonio's leaders. Investing here is investing in this city.
Explore PartnershipsBeyond your gift
Stay Connected
Nov
4
Greater Heights Night
The Witte Museum
The Foundation's flagship fundraiser, an evening of dining, auctions, and community.
Details
Apr
4
Reunite at Heights
San Antonio Country Club
The annual spring luncheon and Hall of Fame induction, for alumni who want to reconnect.
Details
Year
round
Alumni Mule Meetups
Dallas · Houston · San Antonio · Austin
Intimate gatherings for alumni across Texas cities to reconnect and hear what is new at AHISD.
DetailsLocal Businesses, local schools
Corporate Partners
When local businesses invest in Alamo Heights schools, everyone benefits. These are the businesses already doing it.
Why Alamo Heights gives
Funded by neighbors Like You
"We moved to Alamo Heights because of its reputation and tradition of high-quality public schools. The State has proven to be unreliable when it comes to funding our public schools. Now is the time for this community that we love to step up and fill in where the state falls short, to ensure all Alamo Heights children receive the very best."
"Giving to the Foundation ensures this community's children receive the very best education."
"Together, we can close the funding gap caused by inadequate state funding."
Give back to what gave you everything
Fund a Teacher Today
A teacher stays in an Alamo Heights classroom because someone gave. That's hometown generosity, making an impact, without interruption, for 55 years. Your gift carries that legacy forward.