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May 16, 2022 I
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Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with the families and communities impacted by violence and hatred

NCFL acknowledges the trauma that so many are grappling with in the wake of terrible acts of violence occurring over the last several days. Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with the families and ...  Read more »

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Apr 28, 2022 I
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NCFL authors chapter in new community literacy guidebook

NCFL is pleased to have contributed content for “A Field Guide to Community Literacy: Case Studies and Tools for Praxis, Evaluation, and Research” edited by Laurie A. Henry and Norman A. Stahl. ...  Read more »

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Apr 26, 2022 I
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Reminder: Nominations are due May 6th for the next Toyota Family Teacher of the Year

In case you missed it, the search is on for the next Toyota Family Teacher of the Year! For 26 years, the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) and Toyota have partnered to recognize school- ...  Read more »

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Apr 20, 2022 I
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At the Heart of Family Learning: Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion through family leadership

Greetings to our community members! Past blog posts of my monthly column have focused on defining a Family Learning System and how building coordinated and aligned systems of family literacy, family ...  Read more »

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Apr 18, 2022 I
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The Families Learning Conference returns this fall with a new twist

Mark your calendar for the 2022 Families Learning Conference! This year, we’re shaking things up by holding a two-day virtual conference on October 25 and 26, and then hosting two optional ...  Read more »

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Apr 4, 2022 I
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Webinar on April 14th focuses on strategies for creating a trauma-informed learning environment

Join NCFL on Thursday, April 14 at 3:00 p.m. ET  (2 CT / 1 MT / 12 PT) to learn strategies for creating a trauma-informed learning environment in adult education. When a person goes ...  Read more »

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Apr 1, 2022 I
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Nominations now accepted for the 2022 Toyota Family Teacher of the Year

The search is on for the next Toyota Family Teacher of the Year! For 26 years, the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) and Toyota have partnered to recognize school- and community-based ...  Read more »

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Mar 24, 2022 I
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NCFL, USC Shoah Foundation develop resources to support Holocaust education and social-emotional learning

The National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) and USC Shoah Foundation have partnered to develop resources that engage children and their families in literacy strategies while building empathy, ...  Read more »

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Mar 23, 2022 I
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At the Heart of Family Learning: Meeting the needs of families through family literacy programming

In January and February, I invited readers to join NCFL on our journey to scale and spread effective programs that meet the needs of families by establishing Family Learning Systems in 60 communities ...  Read more »

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Mar 18, 2022 I
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The Wonderopolis® Explorer Program provides fun and engaging summer learning content

With spring break just around the corner, that means summer vacation will be here soon! While planning for family and student engagement during the summer months, consider using NCFL’s turnkey ...  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