McCauley Family Learning Center

McCauley Family Learning Center for Lifelong Learning, Inc. is a non-profit 501©3 company located at 441 S. Spring Street in downtown Burlington, North Carolina. The center opened in 1997 as an alternative to franchised learning centers.

Once during a student conference, an older grandmother, who knew first-hand the importance of an education, was concerned about her granddaughter’s progress. I’ll never forget her looking into my eyes and saying, “First, we learn to read, then, we read to learn.” Some twenty years later, I still hear her voice repeating those words to me.

Over the years, parents had often said, “I do not know how to help my child learn to read and I’ve forgotten how to do the math.” At that same time, I was teaching Adult Basic Education and GED classes at Alamance Community College. I worked with adults, of all ages, who for some reason had not been successful or had quit school. Grandparents wanted to know how to read to their grandchildren and with the loss of manufacturing jobs in our area, many came seeking the skills they lacked to find a new job.

Every adult I taught had a story about their “school years.” Most were embarrassed to admit that they could not read the newspaper, balance their checkbook, or write and spell correctly. Each wondered how their lives might have been different if learning had been easier for them. These men and women soon became my heroes.

One day it hit me! They were once children, too. How could their adult lives have been different? I could hear the grandmother’s words in my head. First, we learn

In 1997, I opened MFLC as an alternative to franchised learning centers. For students to be successful, I knew it was time to get back to “basics” and I knew that their entire family must be involved in the learning process.

Ten years later, parents are still encouraged to participate in the learning process. By attending some of the tutoring sessions with their child, parents gain a better understanding of the concepts their student is expected to know. Parents also learn valuable teaching techniques that they can use at home. By everyone working together during the 2006 – 2007 school year, 89% of our students in grades 3 – 8 passed their EOG in reading and math or their high school EOC on the first try.

If you think that “getting back to basics” and participating in learning sessions will help your child, I invite you to call, or better yet, drop by the center.

I must admit, I often wonder how my life might have been different if I had not met that wise grandmother so many years ago.

-Jean McCauley –
Director