Park City Education Foundation celebrates 40 years at Red Apple Gala Nov. 14

The foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year backs preschool, art, afterschool and classroom grants across the Park City School District. TownLift is a proud sponsor of the 40th anniversary celebration.

PARK CITY, Utah  — The Park City Education Foundation marks its 40th anniversary on Nov. 14 with the Red Apple Gala at Montage Deer Valley, the foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Tickets are available at pcschools.ejoinme.org/tickets2026.

PCEF is a 501(c)(3) overseen by an independent board of parents, educators and community members, and it partners with the Park City School District to fund programs teachers and students ask for. By the foundation’s count, that work reached 4,200 students this year through roughly 100 funded programs and $1.8 million invested in local schools, with 43% of district parents giving this school year.

Money raised at the gala goes back into what PCEF calls its eight signature initiatives:

• Preschool. Offsets the cost of the district’s expanded preschool so more families can afford it.
• Elementary Visual Arts. Funds art instruction at the elementary schools, a program the foundation says was cut from the district budget in the 1980s and has been PCEF-supported since.
• Afterschool. Helps keep K-9 afterschool programs affordable for working parents.
• Educator and student wellness. Pays for mental health and wellness support for teachers and students, from mindfulness training to calming rooms.
• Real World Learning. Funds STEAM and hands-on programs in K-12 classrooms, including PCCAPS, the high school’s professional-studies program.
• Bright Futures. Supports first-generation students on the path to and through college.
• Classroom and Express Grants. Puts money directly in teachers’ hands for projects they design themselves, from robotics to an aviation pathways course.
• Innovation Lab. Gives educators a channel to pilot new ideas in the district.

The foundation says the combined effect works out to roughly $500 in added funding per student every year.

The evening is black tie optional and opens at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour and silent auction, followed by dinner and the live program at 7 p.m. and an after-party from 9:30 to 11 p.m. with the Beacon Street Jazz Band, casino games and desserts.

TownLift is a sponsor of this year’s gala, alongside Pendry Park City, with Montage Deer Valley hosting.

Get Tickets Here