President's Message

Almost 7% of the NAF network is on the Gulf coast with 34 Academies in Louisiana and two in Mississippi. These Gulf Coast Academies serve more than 3,000 students, 100 teachers and more than 100 business partners, all of whom have been devastated and will need assistance in rebuilding and relocating in the next few months.

All of our programs have suffered devastating losses to their community.  Jefferson Parish, which houses 15 NAF programs, does not expect to be able to open schools for a few months.  The two programs in Mississippi are located in Gulfport and we have not had any updates from this area at all.   The phone calls and e-mails we have received are heart wrenching to say the least.

We have already received requests from students and teachers around the country who want to help their classmates, fellow teachers and the families who have been affected and in response, NAF is establishing a specific NAF Katrina Emergency Relief and Rebuilding Fund for those in our network and broader community who want to direct support to families in our network as well as to rebuilding the Academies as quickly as possible.

Once they are ready to reopen the schools we plan to organize teams of volunteers to travel there, in coordination with local relief efforts, to help specifically with the needs of  our schools.

I know you join with us in sending your prayers and support to these communities.  NAF will continue to monitor the situation and assess the kinds of support we can give to these programs as the needs become more apparent. 

As always, thank you for your commitment and support of NAF.

Sincerely,

John J. Ferrandino