Kindling Curiosity and Igniting a Spark in Students

Founded in 1999 by a group of Northville school parents and community leaders concerned about the changes to school funding in Michigan, the Northville Educational Foundation is a 501(c)3 charitable organization dedicated to supporting enrichment programs to benefit all Northville students. For over 20 years, NEF has worked with donors, community members, local organizations and companies to donate over $2.5 million to Northville Public Schools.

NEF began by funding teacher grants and student assistance grants. When the District faced a $9 million shortfall from 2009-2011 due to state funding cuts, NEF stepped up its support. While the District worked with teachers, staff and parents to cut costs, NEF helped by funding technology, textbooks and other needs.

Since then, NEF has worked with the District to support amazing educational opportunities in Northville schools. Opportunities such as Leader In Me in the elementary schools, Project Lead the Way classes in the Middle and High School and the Village Workshop Co-op for the High School students. NEF helped send Northville teachers to the Galileo Leadership Cohort, a program focused on the works of leading educational researchers, best practices and personal action research projects. Every year, NEF distributes thousands of dollars to teachers through Innovative Teaching Grants—dollars that go directly to the classroom to immediately impact students.

School funding continues to be challenging, and while Northville is a successful district, there are still needs and opportunities. The Northville Educational Foundation will continue to work with parents, teachers, staff, corporations, organizations and community members to meet those needs and foster and enhance educational opportunities that will inspire students to ignite their curiosities and to explore their passions.

NEF’s Vision

NEF is committed to be the premier non-profit educational resource for district-wide, groundbreaking educational programming that inspires Northville Public School students to ignite their curiosities and explore their passions with pride and purpose.

NEF’s Mission

NEF fosters and enhances educational opportunities and academic excellence for all students
by providing aspirational funding beyond the Northville Public School District’s resources.

Click here to learn more about School Funding and NEF Board of Directors

Annual IRS filings, governing documents and policies of NEF, and annual financial statements are available for viewing upon written request to the Northville Educational Foundation.