Aspire’s 2025-2026 Program Year Results

August 5, 2026
Supporting Bright Futures Annual Report July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026

Aspire’s 2025-26 program/fiscal year challenged us and inspired us. Federal funding cuts to AmeriCorps in April 2025 created a 30% gap in our budget, but thanks to our strong community partnerships, robust fundraising efforts, excellent financial management, and a deep commitment to our values, we pivoted quickly and continued most programming as planned. We served a record number of students in our 2025 summer learning camp. While the funding cuts meant we had to start the school year off with one empty classroom, we raised funds to re-open the classroom in January 2026, restoring our student reach to 144 during the school year. 

We continue to deepen partnerships with schools and other nonprofits to support our families and other Arlington residents and respond to needs as they arise. Furthermore, Aspire’s staff, Board, and students have served on panels, presented at conferences, and used their voices to ensure that our community understands the challenges that many of their neighbors face and how we can all support each other. 

In September 2025, we launched a new five-year strategic roadmap, which we developed in partnership with our students, families, staff, board members, and community partners. The ambitious plan focuses on four priorities: increasing student achievement, expanding our holistic programming, strengthening strategic partnerships, and building a sustainable staffing model. We’ve also left room for flexibility to respond to new and changing needs over the next five years. Just one year in, we have already made strong progress as we:

  • Expanded STEM programming
  • Piloted a new social-emotional curriculum
  • Started developing a new logic curriculum focused on critical thinking and problem solving
  • Launched new resources for students’ parents/caregivers
  • Created a plan for a new staffing model to fill the AmeriCorps gap and create employment pathways for local youth. 

We still face a lot of uncertainty. Although we filled the AmeriCorps gap in the short term, we are exploring long-term sustainable funding sources to fill the gap moving forward. We know that Aspire’s programming is more important now than ever, and we will continue to serve our community with dignity, respect, and care.

To learn more about Aspire’s work and our students’ accomplishments over the 2025-2026 program year, check out our full report and a two-page summary.