MEF has announced the launch of a new multi-year community campaign titled We Are Signal, a unifying effort designed to bring together the entire Signal Mountain community in support of its public schools: Nolan Elementary, Thrasher Elementary, and Signal Mountain Middle/High School. The campaign, which begins this month, aims to build community pride and commitment around a simple but powerful message: we are one town, one community, and one shared future. Every child, from kindergarten through graduation, is part of the same journey, and We Are Signal calls on the entire community to take part in shaping that path.
The campaign marks a significant milestone in MEF’s 34-year history and represents a new era of collaboration, investment, and community identity. We Are Signal is more than a fundraising initiative. It is a vision for who Signal Mountain is and who it wants to be.
“We are Signal is about our students, our teachers, and our neighbors. It shares that we believe in the future of this community,” said Catherine Fore, 25-26 MEF Board Chair. “By now, most people are likely familiar with the social psychologist, Johnathan Haidt. On Signal Mountain, I think we all realize that we live in a place that is rare. As Haidt concludes, living in a small community, we have the opportunity for relationships and shared experiences that bind us together and enhance our lives. A place like this is a place where children thrive. Whether just starting out as a kindergartner or about to spread your wings as a senior – We are Signal means that we are a community that supports our children for those formative years – start to finish!”
Since its founding in 1991 by a group of visionary Signal Mountain parents, MEF has served as the philanthropic backbone for public education on the mountain. These families recognized early on that public funding alone wouldn’t be enough to provide the kind of education opportunities they wanted for their children. Over the years, MEF steadily expanded its reach and impact, and in recent years, the foundation has experienced extraordinary growth. It has become a strong, stable, and strategic organization that serves all three Signal Mountain public schools and drives community-wide investment in education.
Over the past three decades, MEF has granted more than $11 million to Signal Mountain’s schools and directly served more than 12,000 students. MEF funding has supported 230+ teaching positions, delivered more than 120,000 tutoring sessions, and made possible over 3,000 practice ACT exams. MEF has played a role in expanding arts education, supporting STEM and cutting-edge programs, and ensuring access to basic classroom supplies and technology. These investments help ensure that every student has the opportunity to excel and grow.
Perhaps most notably, MEF and its precursor organizations played a leading role in the opening of Signal Mountain Middle/High School in 2008. After years of community organizing, leadership, and investment, parent and volunteer leadership helped make the dream of a full K-12 public education on the mountain a reality. Since then, SMMHS has become a point of pride for the community and the culmination of a student’s journey through Signal schools.
In 2018, the foundation celebrated the school’s 10-year anniversary with the “Million Dollar Year” campaign, raising substantial grant funds in advance to support continued excellence. In 2023, MEF completed its Legacy Endowment Campaign, raising $1.5 million from fewer than 30 donors, including a $1 million matching gift, to establish an endowment that now covers all of MEF’s operating expenses. This means that 100 percent of every donation made to MEF today goes directly to programs and resources that benefit students and schools.
The We Are Signal campaign builds on this strong foundation and launches at a moment of renewed purpose for MEF and the community it serves. Following a year of visioning sessions, community conversations, and deeper partnerships with school PTAs and PTSAs, MEF recently adopted a new mission and vision to guide its future:
Mission: To elevate minds, empower futures, and cultivate a thriving Signal Mountain community, through education and resources that inspire whole-life success.
Vision: To be Tennessee’s premier education and youth development community.
“We want to prepare our students for success inside and outside the classroom,” shares Board member Pam Rivers. “That means investing in the whole child, including supporting academics, arts, athletics, service, leadership, and life skills. This is what it takes to help a student succeed in the world today.”
Through We Are Signal, MEF aims to deepen community engagement, broaden access to high-impact opportunities, and lay the groundwork for future strategic investments that are currently being developed. Each year, MEF grants funding to the public schools, and the school leadership, including principals and PTAs/PTSA, work together to determine where those funds will have the greatest impact. This collaborative approach ensures that MEF resources are directed to the most critical needs identified by those who know the schools best.
The campaign will also serve as the foundation for celebrating the upcoming 20th anniversary of SMMHS in 2028, an opportunity to honor the progress made and chart the course ahead.
At the heart of We Are Signal is a simple truth: every Signal Mountain student benefits from MEF’s work, no matter which school they attend. And every community member, whether a parent, grandparent, business owner, alumnus, or neighbor, has a role to play. All residents enjoy the benefits of a vibrant, safe and thriving community, with stellar schools at its core.
Kathy Peeples, who has no direct connection to Signal schools, shared, “The MEF is a win/win in so many ways. It provides a quality education for students on Signal, it secures property values for residents, and contributing to MEF is cheaper than paying for a private education and more cost effective than eventually selling your home for a loss.”
The campaign encourages households to become recurring monthly donors, no matter the amount. Just $50 a month (less than $1.67 a day) can support programs that change a child’s experience. A monthly gift of $50 can provide more than a year’s worth of classroom supplies to three teachers, fund a professional development program for Signal Mountain educators, or support tutoring for students who need extra help. And the long-term impact adds up fast: if 150 new donors commit to giving $50/month and continue their support throughout their child’s K-12 years in Signal schools, their combined investment would exceed $1 million over time.
“We have come so far with truly remarkable community support of our children for decades. And the opportunities before us are truly exciting!” shared Executive Director Hilarie Robison. “This campaign is about our kids. It’s about the next level. It’s so exciting to dream about the next twenty years of impact. This is the future of Signal Mountain. This is the future of our schools and our children. This is our home. And we are Signal.”
