Portfolio Category: Lifelong Learning

In recent years, the Francis Family Foundation explored promising community-partnership opportunities to support the Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, school districts. As a result, the Board invests in PREP-KC, Kansas City Partnership for Regional Educational Preparation. Although this effort targets children older than the birth-to-age-five focus under Lifelong Learning, the Board recognized that…

Children are born ready to learn. During the first three years of life, trillions of connections are being made between brain cells. According to Zero to Three, “A child’s relationships and experiences during the early years greatly influence how their brain grows.” The Foundation is invested in Reach Out and Read-Kansas City, a unique partnership…

Quality. The Foundation has invested in a number of quality initiatives through the Metropolitan Council on Early Learning. http://www.marc.org/mcel Professional Development. In 1989, Penn Valley Community College, the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and the Francis Family Foundation created the Francis Resource Center to provide community-based training services for child care providers. The Resource Center…

“The Francis Family Foundation is very interested in how to maximize each child’s development before school begins, as this appears to be a critical time and has direct links to the serious dropout problem.” – John B. Francis