Much has been accomplished in education at the state level and within Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, yet so much remains to be done to benefit our students. We at the Belk Foundation remain committed to ensuring that our youngest students gain a strong foundation in learning and skills to support their future growth. That is why we spotlight literacy and math proficiency in the early grades of elementary school and support teachers and leaders in the school system. We remain focused on our goals to improve literacy by third grade and close gaps that are preventing children with the highest needs from gaining access to the best teachers.
We are excited about the preliminary results of LETRS implementation and training across the state. This initiative starts the journey of building out a “science of reading” approach to literacy. Significant investments have already been made and we know that there will need to be much more invested as we move forward. We encourage more energy and effort on this multi-year journey to achieve sustainable progress for young readers.
Within the Belk Foundation, we continue to strengthen the team with the addition of a new program officer, Amy Jackson. At the board level, we welcomed four new members. Our goal is to strike a balance with committed family members and leaders in education and the community. Anna Elliott and Rebecca Tanner are family members, and Mary Mack (retired executive at Wells Fargo) and Carmen Concepcion (Chief of Schools at Thomasville City Schools) are leaders in the community. Two special board members recently ended their terms, Dr. Alison Harris Welcher (Chief of Staff at Chiefs for Change) and Ann Clark (retired Superintendent at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and current executive leadership coach supporting districts across the country). Our two retiring board members contributed to the foundation’s work at the highest level and will be greatly missed.
John R. Belk Board Chair
Executive Director’s Message
This year has shown signs that K-3 literacy and teacher effectiveness are recovering from the impact of COVID, yet across the state and in the Charlotte area, there are still obstacles to overcome.
University and nonprofit research organizations we support provided valuable and actionable research that has been disseminated to make an impact on state and district policies and strategies while increasing the knowledge of a broad spectrum of stakeholders.
We continued our focus of collaboration with grantees and other funders to have a greater impact on summer learning and tutoring outcomes. We also supported organizations that implement strategies to retain the most effective teachers. High-quality teachers close achievement gaps and students benefit from their demonstrated ability to ensure academic gains.
In the past year, we had a new staff member join us, Amy Jackson. As the Belk Foundation’s program officer, Amy manages a portfolio of grants and supports day-to-day operations. She is a former teacher and advancement professional who has worked at Union County Public Schools, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, and Wingate University. We also welcomed back our Teach For America Alumna Intern, Jennifer Ruth.
I hope our 2024 Annual Report will inform you about our hardworking nonprofit partners and their meaningful progress over the past year. Together, we will expand opportunities and improve student achievement in the Charlotte area and across the state of North Carolina.
Jevelyn Bonner-Reed Executive Director
Belk Foundation staff: Kathryn James, Jevelyn Bonner-Reed, Jennifer Ruth, and Amy Jackson.
EdNC is an award-winning team of journalists and researchers that collect data and stories on critical issues in North Carolina public schools and disseminate the information to residents and policymakers. Their reporting helps bring into perspective what challenges public schools are facing and the innovative ways people are meeting those challenges. As a trusted source of information, EdNC provides a politically neutral view of what is happening in education. They reach 1.2 million users a year and encourage an active and connected community.
The Science of Reading has been an important investment in student learning and pedagogy and EdNC’s articles help contextualize the work and track the results. Their publishing has helped shine light on the bright spots while also elevating areas where there is still a critical need for quality, foundational reading instruction.
Education sustains and develops the workforce, but as political disharmony grows there are threats to the education system. Inspired by this current culture shift within the state, EdNC published a book entitled “North Carolina’s Choice: Why our public schools matter.”
EdNC traveled to all 115 school districts in the state and 58 community colleges to understand the impact of public education within NC communities. The overarching goal of the book is to help people understand the connection between policy changes to public education and statewide economic development.
“Even with a slight decline in the school-age population and a post-pandemic uptick in private and homeschool enrollment, more than 1.5 million young children and adolescents in North Carolina – around eight out of 10 – attend schools funded by the state, county, and federal governments.”
- Ferrel Guillory, EdNC.org
“Through my experience in the UNC Charlotte Reads tutoring program, I was able to connect with students and ultimately help them progress and become better readers.”
- Education Major at UNC Charlotte
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) gathers and disseminates information on issues that impact the teacher pipeline across the United States. With support from the Belk Foundation, in June 2023, NCTQ published a comprehensive overview of Educator Preparation Programs in the country and how well their literacy courses support Science of Reading (SOR) knowledge. NCTQ’s Teacher Prep Review evaluated 1,244 undergraduate and graduate elementary programs offered by 1,053 public and private institutions of higher education. North Carolina is tied for fourth in the country for the most “exemplary” undergraduate programs and eighth among all states when looking at how well states prepare their candidates overall for SOR.
North Carolina’s Educator Preparation Programs are continuing to improve. The programs whose curriculums were not closely aligned with SOR received attention to help push them into that direction. UNC Charlotte received an “A+” rating in the report which garnered positive attention. The NCTQ report and others also likely played a factor in UNC Charlotte receiving a $23 million grant from the Mebane Foundation to focus on early literacy and delivery of high-quality educational programming.
BEST NC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of business leaders who work to improve North Carolina’s education system through policy and advocacy. BEST NC uses its platform to distribute information about Advanced Teaching Roles (ATR) that has resulted in the North Carolina General Assembly supporting ATR expansion. Since 2016, ATR programs have increased across the state.
Studies have shown that students in schools that have ATR have better academic outcomes. When compared to a matched cohort of non-ATR schools with similar characteristics, ATR schools had significantly higher student growth.
Second Year
- Lead Teacher First Year
“I think this program is really working and I do believe that it has made a difference in our school.”
ATR recognizes teacher leaders with higher compensation, allows them to lead without leaving the classroom, and provides a new avenue for professional growth. ATR is a system that requires the districts and schools that adopt these roles to have cultural and structural shifts. The videos, white papers, articles, and data that BEST NC is sharing helps people understand the value of ATR and how to best implement the system.
Districts with Advanced Teaching RolesTM Programs (2023-24)
Teachers
The Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED) focuses on creating racial equity within North Carolina. One of their programs is CREED Academy which trains teachers in leadership and advocacy around best practice in supporting outcomes for students of color. CREED also hosts #TeachingInColor which is a professional learning network that aims to elevate marginalized voices. Through hosting summits, virtual discussions, storytelling festivals, and publishing a biannual magazine, CREED is creating spaces for teachers of color to build a support network with the goal to retain teachers of color. This will lead to a more diverse and effective teaching workforce.
Profound Ladies and Teach For America are also working to increase the diversity of North Carolina teachers. Both grantees have started pilot programs to support their members in becoming Nationally Board Certified. National Board Certification has shown to improve teacher retention and effectiveness. Teachers who become certified also receive a salary increase. By supporting diverse teachers through National Board Certification, these organizations are contributing to a teacher workforce that is better prepared, more diverse, and has a higher retention rate. All these factors lead to better student outcomes.
The Belk Foundation is proud to financially support organizations and foster collaboration among them as well. Augustine Literacy Project (ALP), Heart Math Tutoring, and Helping Education have been coordinating services at Newell Elementary in Charlotte to ensure the school is optimizing its intervention resources. By meeting as a team, the school was able to create a more strategic schedule that allowed students to receive tutoring in math and reading as a supplement to core instruction in their classrooms. As a result, the tutoring program at Newell has become more effective and comprehensive.
Grantee Impact
FY24 Grant Activity
Total Amount of Grants
$1,915,063 33
Total Number of Grants
By the Numbers
The Belk Foundation supported: 302 pre-service teachers
430 in-service teachers of color 1,703 summer camp kids
2,692 tutoring students
Current Multi-Year Grants*
BEST NC
Black Child Development Institute-Charlotte
CMS Foundation
Heart Math Tutoring
LatinxEd
North Carolina Alliance for School Leadership Development
General operating support to provide intensive tutoring to aspiring first through third grade readers who are one year or more behind in reading. Also additional funding awarded to launch a technology solution to support continued growth of their tutoring program.
$150,000 (over 2 years)
CMS Foundation
Strengthening Teachers and Leaders
Program support for the CMS Teaching Residency, with a goal of increasing the licensing of diverse, non-traditional teachers in the 2023-24 academic year.
$100,000 (over 2 years)
Charlotte Speech and Hearing Center
K-3 Achievement
Program support for clinicians to provide individualized support to emerging readers in K-3rd grades to build vocabulary and language expression.
$17,500
Communities In Schools
K-3 Achievement
Program support to remove barriers to educational equity and increase attendance for elementary students.
$40,000
Freedom School Partners
K-3 Achievement
Program support for summer program to stop summer learning loss and create passionate readers and learners.
$50,000
Helping Education
K-3 Achievement
Program support to deliver reading fluency literacy programming to CMS students.
$150,000 (over 2 years)
International House of Metrolina K-3 Achievement
Program support for Multi-Language Learners to receive literacy tutoring after school and during the summer months.
$160,000 (over 2 years)
Queens University of Charlotte
Strengthening Teachers and Leaders
Program support for Queens School Executive Leadership Academy (SELA), a program that prepares new school leaders and principals through a partnership with Queens’ McColl School of Business, Cato School of Education, and CMS.
$35,000
Summer Access Fund at FFTC
K-3 Achievement
General operating support for a collective of 6 local non-profit partners working collaboratively to expand the number of schools and students who have access to summer programs across Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
$50,000
Teach For America
Strengthening Teachers and Leaders
Program support for recruiting, training, and developing impact-driven teachers and leaders. Teach For America supports first-and second-year teachers who teach some of the most vulnerable students in highest need classrooms.
$200,000 (over 2 years)
YMCA of Greater Charlotte
K-3 Achievement
Program support for Y Readers year-round programming to accelerate literacy growth for kindergarten through third grade students in CMS.
$150,000 (over 2 years)
North Carolina Grants
The Belk Foundation North Carolina Grants
BEST NC
Strengthening Teachers and Leaders
Program support for the continued advocacy for reform of teacher compensation, licensure, and development.
$150,000 (over 3 years)
The Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED)
Strengthening Teachers and Leaders
Program support for professional development programs that build capacity and knowledge for teachers of color to increase teacher retention.
$25,000
EdNC
Strengthening Teachers and Leaders
General operating support to EdNC’s work to report on policy makers and levers influencing systems change in education.
$60,000 (over 2 years)
NC Alliance for School Leadership
Development
Strengthening Teachers and Leaders
Program support to create and implement the Early Career Principals Academy, a statewide leadership development initiative for early-career public school principals.
$40,000 (over 2 years)
National Council on Teacher Quality
Strengthening Teachers and Leaders
Program support to engage with stakeholders in North Carolina to advance policies and practices that promote both strong elementary literacy instruction and a diverse teacher workforce in order to improve student outcomes.
$25,000
The Innovation Project
Strengthening Teachers and Leaders
Program support to support diverse and rural NC district superintendents to improve student learning experience and academic outcomes through innovative strategies.
$45,000
Board Updates
Welcome to the Board!
The Belk Foundation is excited to welcome two new community members, Carmen Concepcion and Mary Mack to our board. Carmen is the Chief of Schools for Thomasville City Schools. Mary is a retired executive at Wells Fargo.
Congratulations on Your Transition!
Belk family members Anna Elliott and Rebecca Tanner began their involvement with us through serving on the NextGen Advisory Board. We are thrilled to have them join the Belk Foundation Board and bring new perspectives to our work.
Thank You for Your Service!
We would also like to thank two community board members who wrapped up their service this year. Ann Clark served on the board for 6 years. She is the former Superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and currently serves as an executive leadership coach and supports districts across the country. Dr. Alison Harris Welcher served on the board for 7 years. She is Chief of Staff at Chiefs for Change and the founder & CEO of THRIVE Life Coaching.
Rebecca Tanner
Ann Clark
Anna Elliott
Dr. Alison Harris Welcher
Carmen Concepcion Mary Mack
The Belk Foundation believes that education is a basis for successful society and that a quality education is the right of all children and youth. Our mission is to invest in schools and organizations that work aggressively to ensure all students graduate from high school and continue on an intentional path toward college, career and life.
For more information regarding The Belk Foundation’s grantmaking, please visit:
