When people ask me why I started Hill Country Day School, the honest answer is that I have never known how to do anything halfway. I have spent most of my adult life believing that children deserve more than what is convenient or affordable or average. That belief has taken me a long way from home. The story of Hill Country Day School is also closely connected to the values embraced by Hill Country Children’s Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting education and wellbeing for all children. For nearly 20 years, I was part of something called the Davis Moon Project. We were a small nonprofit with a big mission: supporting a school in the Kadara region of rural Arbegona, Ethiopia.
What started as a simple idea grew into a full partnership with school administrators, local authorities, parents, church leaders, and government officials. We funded classrooms, kitchens, desks, uniforms, and learning materials. We watched children walk through the doors of kindergarten and later cross the stage at college graduation. At its peak, the school we supported served more than 2,000 students annually from pre-K through 8th grade.
Earlier this year, we closed the doors of the Davis Moon Project. Not because the work failed, but because it succeeded. The school is sustainable on its own now. The community owns it. That is exactly what good nonprofit work is supposed to do. Closing something you built with that much love is not simple. But the mission does not end. It just finds a new home.
Why I Built a Foundation Alongside a School
Building Hill Country Day School has been the hardest and most meaningful thing I have ever done. A school built on nature, on curiosity, on the belief that children learn best when they are trusted to explore the world around them. A school where educators are paid what they are worth and where every room, every trail, every outdoor classroom was designed with intention.
But from the very beginning, there was a question I could not stop asking: what about the families who believe in this vision and make that happen financially? The opportunity for families to benefit from the Hill Country Children’s Foundation is part of that answer.
I know what it means to fight for access and what it looks like when a child gets a chance they would not have had otherwise. I watched it happen 8,000 miles away for two decades and I was not willing to build something extraordinary in my own backyard and leave that question unanswered. So I built the Hill Country Children’s Foundation alongside the school.
What the Hill Country Children Foundation Is
The Hill Country Children’s Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, federally recognized as of April 2026. We are not promising to solve everything at once. We are promising to start. One scholarship this year. More as we grow. Through the Hill Country Children’s Foundation, we plan to expand support year over year.
A scholarship here is not a handout. It covers up to 50% of tuition for families who qualify based on household income, and it comes with one ask in return: show up. Ten hours of community participation per semester. Help in the classroom, bring a skill, support an event. Be part of what we are building, not just a recipient of it. This opportunity is made possible thanks to Hill Country Children’s Foundation.
Our end goal will be ten scholarships per year.
Nobody starts a nonprofit because it is easy. You start one because you cannot stop thinking about the gap between what exists and what should. Twenty years with the Davis Moon Project taught me that. The school in Ethiopia does not need us anymore because enough people showed up, for long enough, with enough heart. That is the whole point. I carry that with me into everything I build. This Foundation exists because I could not open a school I am proud of and leave access as an afterthought.
How to Be Part of It
If you want to be part of it, there are a few ways in. You can make a donation at hillcountrychildrensfoundation.org. If you run a business and want to be a founding sponsor before we open our doors, reach out or find out more information about sponsorship here: https://hillcountrychildrensfoundation.org/sponsor. And if you are a family who has been quietly wondering whether a school like this could ever work for you financially, please reach out, I would love to connect about a partnership.
The doors open this fall. We cannot wait to welcome you.
— Haleigh Almquist Founder, Hill Country Day School and Hill Country Children’s Foundation