The Foundation for Rural Education Excellence, a registered 501 (C)(3) organization, was founded in 1998 to facilitate philanthropic support for rural school districts of the North East Florida Educational Consortium (NEFEC): Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Nassau, Putnam, Suwannee and Union Counties as well as Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind and PK Yonge Developmental Research School. Working collaboratively, our mission is to enhance academic success and career opportunities for rural students in northeast Florida.

June 14^th was the kickoff of NEFEC’s Rural Connect Summer Literacy Institute attended by 150 educators from nine school districts! Funded by a federal Education and Innovation Research grant, Rural Connect provides educators with professional learning in literacy that includes:

Implementation of Rural Connect will span the 2021-2022 school year, with educators attending 3 content area sessions to continue their learning, plan, share, and network with colleagues.

Florida’s local education foundations innovate learning, power potential, and celebrate success in school districts from coast to coast. We believe that amid all the disruption caused by the pandemic, new ways of doing things emerged that might be worth holding on to post-pandemic. Through their network and partners, the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations (CFEF) invited teachers and school leaders to share their innovations. CFEF received 177 submissions from December 2020 through April 2021. In reviewing them, they found some cross-cutting themes they believe could be useful to people involved in various aspects of K-12 education, from classroom teachers and school administrators to program coordinators and district leaders. We hope the COVID Education Innovation in Florida report can spark productive conversations for local school communities as we move forward together for our students. Click the link below for their findings and the full report.