Bright Futures expands to 233 students as PCEF invests $1.8 million in Park City schools

Bright Futures graduates Jessica Loya (left) and Isa (right). Park City Education Foundation President and CEO Ingrid Whitley presented the organization’s annual report to the Park City Board of Education on Aug. 25. PCEF invested nearly $1.8 million in district programs and grants during the 2025-26 school year. Photo: Park City Education Foundation

The foundation says all 72 participating seniors graduated with post-high school plans after first-generation support moved into the school day.

PARK CITY, Utah — Park City Education Foundation invested nearly $1.8 million in district programs and grants during the 2025-26 school year, including an expansion that more than doubled the number of first-generation high school students receiving support through Bright Futures.

PCEF President and CEO Ingrid Whitley presented the independent nonprofit’s year-end report to the Park City Board of Education on Tuesday.

The foundation said Bright Futures supported 233 first-generation students in grades 9-12 during the past school year, up from 100 in 2024-25. That represents a 133% increase, according to PCEF.

The growth followed a restructuring that placed a full-time, licensed Bright Futures counselor within the Park City High School counseling department. The counselor works with first-generation students during the school day in addition to the support they receive from their regularly assigned school counselors.

When PCEF announced the change in 2025, the foundation said offering assistance during school would make the program accessible to students whose jobs, extracurricular activities, or family responsibilities made it difficult to participate after school.

Bright Futures defines first-generation students as those whose parents have not completed a four-year college degree. The program helps students consider college and other postsecondary paths, visit colleges, complete applications, apply for financial aid and scholarships, build budgets and receive individual coaching.

PCEF said all 72 Bright Futures students in Park City High School’s Class of 2026 graduated with post-high school plans. Of those students, 53 planned to attend a college or university, a 36% increase from the previous year. Twenty-seven received Bright Futures scholarships, a 59% increase, according to the foundation.

Support continues after students leave Park City High School. PCEF’s college program provides individual coaching, mentoring, financial assistance, and emergency aid to students pursuing postsecondary education.

According to PCEF’s publicly reported figures, 70 Bright Futures students are enrolled in college as of fall 2026, and 30 have earned college degrees as of spring 2026. The foundation reports a 50% graduation rate and 74% progression rate among Bright Futures college students.

PCEF also awarded $150,000 in scholarship funding to Bright Futures college students for the 2026-27 academic year.

The program is funded through donor contributions.

Beyond Bright Futures, PCEF reported awarding $270,000 in classroom grants last school year. Projects included school musicals, music programs, special education support, electric vehicle programs at elementary schools, an aquaponics project at Park City High School, and Ecker Hill Middle School’s One Book One School program.

The foundation also directed $41,000 to school PTOs and PTAs and reported investing $350,000 over the past two years to equip career and technical education spaces at Park City High School and Ecker Hill.

For 2026-27, PCEF has allocated $225,000 for an innovation grant program designed to respond to larger school- and district-level proposals throughout the year. The foundation’s board was scheduled to consider its first request this week.

PCEF is also helping the district support a licensed clinical social worker at each elementary school and a freshman success coordinator focused on the transition from eighth to ninth grade.

The foundation said it has already committed $1.4 million to programs beginning in the 2026-27 school year, with additional funding expected. Its continuing commitments include preschool, after-school programs, Bright Futures, career and technical education, student wellness programs and classroom grants.

Park City parents and educators founded PCEF in 1986, and it is marking its 40th anniversary this year. The organization says it now supports more than 100 programs serving students throughout the district.