You may have been hearing about the Pope High School Foundation lately, and have wondered what it is all about.  The Foundation, which was originally formed in 1993 to finance the construction of the football stadium, existed for that sole purpose until the stadium debt was paid off in late 2004.  Since then, the Foundation has redefined its mission to reach beyond the athletic field and to provide supplemental resources for the entire Pope community, including the areas of fine arts and academics as well as athletics.

Public funding of the education system goes only so far.  Federal, state and county funds are stretched to provide our children with a basic education.  But as we all know, there are many areas of fine arts, academics and athletics that are under-funded or do not receive any financial support at all.  This gives rise to much of the purpose and mission of the various booster clubs, the PTSA and similar organizations that do an excellent job of providing support for their specific areas of interest.  But even with the wonderful contributions of these various organizations, we believe there are still many and significant unmet needs at Pope. The Foundation is committed to helping our school—and students—by filling the gap between what currently available funds provide and what we want for our students. The bottom line: We don’t want our students to settle; we want the best for them!

The Foundation Board is made up of a volunteer group of booster club presidents, representatives, teachers, and administrators who want to help prepare Pope students for success—now and in the future.

Since 2007, the Foundation has raised over $600,000 in program support, equipment, technology, booster club support and campus improvements.  Some of our contributions include: classroom smartboards, theater renovation, building façade renovation and lighting (including front entrance sign), state of the art weight room facility, high-tech College and Career Center, fund part time position in the Career Resource Center, renovated teacher lounge/meeting room, media equipment in the cafeteria, greyhound mural in the back parking lot, Stadium Project including major overhaul of the space underneath stadium.