Steve Morton

Steve Morton still remembers vividly his first impression of PSCS.

“My favorite memory of PSCS was that first day we visited and listening to teenagers actually saying nice things about each other during checkout,” he says.

Steve’s daughter Grace ’10 was enrolled in a public high school, but the daily homework load was interfering with her life’s passion, which is dance. When Gracie came to PSCS, the school worked with her to make dance a primary focus of her life. For the Morton family, school became a partner rather than an adversary.

“I think PSCS is important first because for some kids the school is a lifeboat,” he says. “There are some kids who really are drowning in the public school model and the opportunity PSCS provides makes the difference between misery and happiness in their education experience. Second, there are other kids who would do alright in the traditional school but not be challenged to reach their potential like they would at PSCS.”

Steve served on the Board of Trustees for two terms and continues to donate because he believes simply, that the school is a special place.

“I think that our society needs institutions like PSCS to offer a contrary vision to that of the prevalent materialistic view that life is essentially about making a lot of money and spending it,” Steve says. “In addition PSCS provides students with a positive moral outlook that includes compassion for others and happiness for oneself as a skill to be learned only if the student takes the initiative and puts in the hard work to make it happen.”