FREE-NEFEC Newsletter for January 2026

Foundation for Rural Education Excellence

Supporting Academic Achievement in

Rural Northeast Florida Communities

January 2026 Newsletter

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.

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CTE SkillsIgnite Mini-Grant Winners

Please join us in celebrating three exceptional CTE educators:

Ms. Natalie Couey, Levy County Schools
Mrs. Monica Brown, Gilchrist County Schools
Mr. Erik Boggs, Levy County Schools

Congratulations to these outstanding teachers! Each has been awarded a $150 Mini-Grant from FREE in recognition of sharing highly effective practices with their SkillsIgnite Learning Community.

Thank you for your leadership, collaboration, and unwavering commitment to excellence in CTE education. We are proud to celebrate your achievements.

USDOE Awards $9.9M Grant to NEFEC

NEFEC has been awarded a $9.9 million federal grant to lead Rural Connect Florida (RC-FL): One State, Many Classrooms, Shared Success, a statewide initiative focused on strengthening literacy instruction and accelerating student achievement in rural and high-need schools across Florida. This multi-year investment will support evidence-based professional learning grounded in the science of reading, reaching more than 1,500 teachers and impacting over 31,000 students in 36 local education agencies statewide.

Led by NEFEC in partnership with the Panhandle Area Educational Consortium, Heartland Educational Consortium, and the Florida Center for Reading Research, Rural Connect Florida builds on a proven model that connects educators through collaborative professional learning, coaching, and job-embedded support. The initiative aims to improve literacy outcomes, strengthen teacher effectiveness, and create a sustainable, scalable approach to supporting rural schools across Florida.