About

The Cumberland Local Education Foundation’s mission is to help foster a comprehensive learning environment for Cumberland children in the first two decades of their lives while promoting youth civic engagement.

It assists the Cumberland community by raising money for this purpose through grants, private and corporate donations. CLEF helps fund a wide variety of programs for children and youth in the after-school, early-evening and summer time periods. These programs enrich and enhance Cumberland’s overall learning environment and promote innovative approaches to education for the 21st century student.

CLEF supports the concept of “extended learning” whereby “learning institutions rethink the possibilities around what can be learnt, where learning can happen and who is involved in the learning process.” As the British non-profit FutureLab puts it, “We need to move to a system organized through more porous and flexible learning networks that link homes, communities and multiple sites of learning.”

CLEF supports Youth Civic Engagement knowing that research suggests that young people in civic engagement programs are more likely to be involved in school, graduate, hold more positive civic attitudes and avoid risky behaviors. As adults they tend to have better work ethics, volunteer, vote and have more socially responsible attitudes.

CLEF also supports research projects that positively impact learning and education policies in our community and our state.