Asheville P.E.A.K. Academy is founded on a belief in equity, justice for all, and the potential in every child. We mourn the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Their lives and so many other Black lives have been lost; dreams have been shattered; potential has been stolen. We stand in solidarity with the black communities in the world, in our nation, and in our city of Asheville, and join their cry for justice. We recognize that Asheville has a long and storied history of suppressing the rights and stealing the potential of its Black community. We feel your anguish and exhaustion, and we cry with you.

We look forward to being a part of transformational change for Black lives in Asheville, and we are filled with hope by the strong, Black voices crying for change. Asheville P.E.A.K. Academy’s mission is to provide an education that nurtures each child’s inherent brilliance and infinite potential, one that doesn’t try to “fit them into” or accept an inequitable system.

We recognize that for our city to truly achieve genuine educational equity, we must insist on a dismantling of racists systems, policies, and laws that have stolen potential from generations of Black citizens. And so we urge the City of Asheville to listen to the united cries for change: invest in the Black community, make efforts to repair past harms, pass legislation that will protect all citizens, and increase accountability for the Asheville Police Department.