NCFL Announces $2.2 Million Grant to Toyota Families in Schools Programs
27 July 2000
To Help Elementary Schools in Five Additional Cities
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The National Center for Family Literacy announced today it
has received a $2.2 million grant from the Toyota Motor Corporation to expand
the Toyota Families in Schools Program in five additional cities. The TFS
program's primary goal is to increase the achievement of children ages 5 to 12
by implementing strong family literacy programs in the elementary school setting.
Each school district will receive a total of $225,000 for a three-year
cycle of funding to operate family literacy programs at three elementary
school sites. The districts are: Aurora Public Schools, Aurora, Colorado;
Richmond City Public Schools, Richmond, Virginia; Fremont Unified School
District, Fremont, California; Broward County Public Schools, Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida; and Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation, Evansville, Indiana.
This grant brings the total of TFS programs to 45 elementary schools located
in 15 districts nationally.
The program is the result of a long-standing nine-year partnership between
NCFL and Toyota to which Toyota has contributed more than $16 million. The
TFS program was announced in 1998 with an initial grant of $2.7 million from
Toyota Motor Corporation. Although TFS is a new initiative, it is grounded in
a long-standing project created through the Toyota Families for Learning
program.
Nationally, the TFS programs target the elementary school-aged child who
is deemed to be at-risk and whose parents lack literacy and employment skills
and are likely to live in poverty. TFS will focus on increasing the
achievement of elementary school-age children by helping parents and their
children gain basic skills and by building strong family support for
education. It is expected that the project will reach 7,000 parents and
children over the grant period through direct program services as well as many
more family members and communities indirectly.