What is "The Orchard Foundation?"
The Orchard Foundation is a nonprofit local education fund established as a resource for Central Louisiana that works with school districts, businesses, and communities to improve educational opportunities in a nine-parish service area: Allen, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Vernon and Winn. We believe that Orchard provides outstanding opportunities to develop leaders in education which enhance the education efforts in Central Louisiana.

Background and Funding
The Rapides Foundation assembled a group of leaders from throughout the nine-parish Central Louisiana area to study the need for a local education fund and to determine the possible role it could play to improve educational opportunities for educators. The Rapides Foundation committed $600,000 over a three year period to establish a local education fund.

Local business and community leaders, local foundations, and agencies in the service area are encouraged to support this fund in multiple ways. The Orchard Foundation is positioning itself to acquire funding from other sources as its goals meet the focus of education grant programs on the state and federal government levels, and the philanthropic goals of other foundations focused on education.

 

The Orchard Foundation's Mission is to improve academic achievement for Central Louisiana students by promoting best practices; recruiting, retaining, and rewarding excellent and innovative teachers; building school leadership; and strengthening school and community relationships.