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Apr 27, 2023 I
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The Heart of Family Learning: A shining example for engaging families in education

I recently had the chance to catch up with Ivonne Ortiz, the 2022 Toyota Family Teacher of the Year, from Mesa, Arizona. In hearing her thoughts around working with adult learners, I could sense her ...  Read more »

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Apr 25, 2023 I
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Grow your knowledge and network at the 2023 Families Learning Conference this fall

Registration is now open for the 2023 Families Learning Conference, which will be held Oct. 23-25 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Families Learning Conference gathers passionate professionals and community ...  Read more »

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Apr 24, 2023 I
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NCFL welcomes Toyota Family Teachers of the Year for webinar

Join NCFL on Thursday, May 4 at 3 p.m. ET to learn the family engagement strategies implemented by Toyota Family Teacher of the Year winners. When parenting adults are actively involved in their ...  Read more »

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Apr 17, 2023 I
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Catching up with the 2021 Toyota Family Teacher of the Year

In 2021, Manoucheka Dolcine of Broward County, Florida was named the Toyota Family Teacher of the Year in recognition of her career-long dedication to fostering family learning environments in the ...  Read more »

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Apr 6, 2023 I
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Join NCFL for a webinar on our Adult Educator Self Reflection Tool

Join NCFL on Thursday, April 13 at 3 p.m. ET for a discussion on best practices in adult education. Adult education is a critical component of family literacy programming at NCFL. In ...  Read more »

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Mar 31, 2023 I
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Nominations now open for the 2023 Toyota Family Teacher of the Year

For twenty-seven years, the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) and Toyota have partnered to celebrate school- and community-based educators who are exceptional at engaging families. We are ...  Read more »

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Mar 22, 2023 I
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The Heart of Family Learning: Shifting mindsets leads to transformation

Hello and happy spring! As we usher in the beginning of warmer weather, we also celebrate Women’s History Month by exploring the contributions and impact made by women throughout our history. ...  Read more »

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Mar 21, 2023 I
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Just announced: Funding opportunity for innovations in family learning

NCFL is seeking proposals for the Sharon Darling Innovation Fund (SDIF) Family Learning System Challenge. Interested organizations are encouraged to apply for funding to develop and ...  Read more »

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Mar 17, 2023 I
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Join NCFL in celebrating women in education for Women’s History Month!

Beginning as a week-long celebration in Santa Rosa, California, March was officially designated as Women’s History Month in 1987 by an act of Congress. With so many pioneering women recognized ...  Read more »

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Mar 13, 2023 I
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NCFL joins national collaboration in support of adult learners and their families

NCFL is excited to have joined the Adult Literacy and Learning Impact Network (ALL IN). Together with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and a national group of 13 literacy-focused ...  Read more »

NCFL Partners

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Toyota

Toyota, one of the nation's most successful corporations, began a partnership with NCFL in 1991. In addition to a commitment of more than $50 million, Toyota has also contributed a wealth of in-kind support — including advertising, planning and management expertise — to form one of the most progressive corporate/nonprofit partnerships in the nation.

Three major programs have been developed through the Toyota partnership based on the family literacy model of parents and children learning together. These models have influenced federal and state legislation, leveraged local dollars to support family literacy and led to successful programs being replicated across the country.

Read more about Toyota's commitment to communities

William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust

NCFL received its very first donation in 1989 from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust to promote and implement family literacy programming, first in Kentucky and North Carolina and later nationwide. The Kenan Family Literacy Model in part laid the groundwork for 30 years of subsequent family literacy and family learning programming developed by NCFL.

Kenan has continued to support NCFL’s place-based family literacy programs since our inception. Most recently, it has invested in our organization’s Sharon Darling Innovation Fund, which will launch emerging ideas and programmatic evolutions in the multigenerational learning space.

Learn more about the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust

Dollar General Literacy Foundation

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation began partnering with NCFL in 2006. A signature effort of this partnership is the National Literacy Directory, a resource that launched in 2010 and strives to guide potential students and volunteers to literacy services, community education programs, and testing centers in their communities.

The National Literacy Directory contains over 10,000 educational agencies located across the United States and has a dedicated toll-free number to help support those wanting to pursue educational opportunities in their communities.

Dollar General also provides support for development of NCFL’s innovative family learning resources centered on financial literacy and Parent and Child Together (PACT) Time®.

Learn more about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation

PNC Grow Up Great

PNC Grow Up Great believes deeply in the power of high-quality early childhood education and provides innovative opportunities that assist families, educators and community organizations to enhance children's learning and development.

PNC Grow Up Great has partnered with NCFL since 1994, most recently in Louisville, Kentucky, to support Say & Play with Words, our pre-Kindergarten vocabulary-building initiative.

NCFL's work is also featured on the PNC Grow Up Great Lesson Center website. The Lesson Center includes over 100 free, high-quality preschool lesson plans and research-based instructional techniques and strategies. All lesson plans contain Home/School Connections printouts, in English and Spanish, to help families extend and reinforce the learning at home.

Learn more about PNC Grow Up Great

U.S. Department of Education

Initiated through the U.S. Department of Education in 2018, the Statewide Family Engagement Centers (SFEC) program provides 12 grantees and 13 states with five-year, $5 million grants to promote and implement systemic evidenced-based family engagement strategies. NCFL was selected to lead SFECs in two states, Arizona and Nebraska, and is a primary partner for two other SFECs in Kentucky and Maryland/Pennsylvania. 

The SFECs work to support family engagement through state- and local-level agencies while providing both professional development to school districts and direct services to families related to children’s academic outcomes and overall well-being.

Learn more about the U.S. Department of Education

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

NCFL was named a recipient of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s "Voices for Economic Opportunity Grand Challenge," which seeks to elevate diverse voices in order to broaden the conversation about the issues inhibiting economic mobility and generate deeper awareness along with actionable understanding. NCFL will develop and launch a podcast series that will highlight the remarkable stories of low-income, diverse families across the U.S. who have improved their communities through Family Service Learning.

Foundation Website