Organizations

The Association of Bulgarian Schools (ABSA) is an initiative established to link partner schools with a central organization for information and support. The organizational goals are to assist the community-based HL schools in teaching the language and culture of Bulgaria at all proficiency levels and to present their interests to Bulgaria and U.S. government agencies, professional organizations, and other stakeholders. The organization is working on enhancing the professional development of Bulgarian language school educators and administrators by organizing a yearly conference and offering a forum for sharing best practices concerning the teaching of the language and culture of Bulgaria. ABSA is assisting educators and administrators in establishing new Bulgarian language schools in the United States.

Association of Chinese Schools (ACS) is a regional Chinese community-based heritage language school organization. It covers northeast U.S. states from New England to Virginia, in six regions. ACS holds its annual conference each May during Memorial Day weekend; locations vary.

The Chinese School Association of the United States (CSAUS) was founded in 1994. It is a national non-profit of Chinese language education in the United States. Its mission is to maximize cooperation and exchange between all Chinese schools in the nation, promote Chinese language and culture education, and contribute to the overall China-America cultural exchange and cooperation.

National Council of Associations of Chinese Language Schools (NCACLS) is a national Chinese community-based heritage language school organization, an umbrella for thirteen regional organizations. The National Council holds its annual conference each August; locations vary.

Czech Schools in North America is an informal initiative connecting Czech heritage language schools across the U.S. and Canada. It holds its annual conference each June; locations vary.

Foundation for Dutch Education Worldwide (NOB). Approximately 180 Dutch schools are based in unique locations around the world, where passionate teachers provide outstanding education using often modest resources. The foundation supports educational staff as well as the administrative board. It provides services with the aim to professionalize staff and retain the quality of education.

German American School Association of Northern California (GASANC) is an umbrella organization that represents seven independently operated German Language Saturday schools in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The annual GASANC Workshop for all teachers of German takes place at the end of August each year.

The German Language School Conference (GLSC) works with the German Embassy, the German Consulate General New York, professional agencies and organizations, as well as scholars involved in teaching German worldwide. It holds its Annual Professional Development and Networking Conference each November in New York City. Founded in 1978, it is the only national organization dedicated to the needs of community-based German language schools in the United States. Its mission is to link member schools with a central organization for information and support. It assists in the establishment of new language schools and provides a forum for sharing experiences and advice.

American Hungarian Schools Association is a non-profit umbrella organization for weekend Hungarian schools in the United States. While our focus is on Hungarian language instruction, we are also members of the Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools and open to collaboration with many partner institutions. On our English pages we offer a podcast and a book to principles, introduce a few Hungarian cultural links, offer scholarships to study in Hungary and, if you had Hungarian heritage down the line, a program to visit the old country, called Reconnect Hungary.

The Korean School Association of America (KSSA) was founded in 1982 to enhance the mutual relationship and cooperation between Korean schools in the United States, help improve the quality of Korean language and culture education and expand learning opportunities, promote the pride of the descendants of Koreans and establish their identity through sound Korean language and culture education, and provide recommendations on the bilingual education policy in Korea and the U.S.

The National Association for Korean Schools (NAKS) cultivates the development of strong bonds of friendship among Korean schools and instruction in Korean language, culture and history. It is an organization operating with the goal of nurturing and educating Korean-American students and families in the U.S.

The Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages has many helpful resources, including profiles of heritage language programs and Heritage Briefs on many different topics.

The Language Connects Foundation (LCF) is a national not-for-profit and philanthropic organization created in partnership with its parent organization, ACTFL, to elevate the language education profession and promote the transformative power of language learning. As a standalone entity, LCF’s ultimate goal is to help ensure a diverse, well-prepared, and highly skilled language educator workforce today and for generations to come by addressing some of the critical challenges currently facing the language education profession.

The National Coalition of Native American Language Schools and Programs advocates for the use of Indigenous languages as the medium of instruction in community-led schools and programs. They empower students, families, teachers and our community-led Native American language medium schools and programs by strengthening public policy.

The National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC) at UCLA, one of 16 Language Resource Centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education, develops effective pedagogical approaches to teaching heritage language learners, by creating a research base and by pursuing curriculum design, materials development, and teacher education.

Since 1987 the National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL) has fostered a network that empowers educators to advocate for and support early language teaching and learning, with the vision that every child deserves educators, parents, and decision makers and to workshops, instructional materials, advocacy resources, and information for parents. NNELL supports all program models that provide and promote second language education from birth to Grade 8.

The Heritage Language Global Think Tank, formed in 2022, brings together passionate professionals from 14 countries to support community-based heritage language (CBHL) schools. Recognizing shared goals and challenges across nations, the Think Tank promotes global collaboration to enhance the recognition, visibility, vitality, quality, and sustainability of CBHL education. With a focus on global action, policy, human rights, and equity, the group developed the International Guidelines for Professional Practices in CBHL Schools and a Review Rubric (2025) to help schools reflect on and professionalize their practices.

The Heritage Language Education Network (HLE Network) seeks to increase and improve opportunities for multilingual children to further develop the language(s) they speak at home through an effective educational program. This education should support them in their identity development so that they can grow up confidently and integrate into local society. We aim to promote and improve heritage language (HL) education in the Eindhoven region and beyond.

The International and Heritage Languages Association was founded in 1977 to bring together heritage language schools in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which were operating in isolation. When teachers participated in a conference, they discovered that their challenges and rewards were similar across schools, regardless of the languages they taught, and they continue to collaborate and learn from each other.

The International Languages Educators' Association (ILEA) of Ontario, Canada, is a professional association dedicated to the field of international language education. ILEA works with community-based heritage language schools. In Ontario, these programs have been mandated for 40 years, and a school district must provide a program if approached by the community (with 23 students it must be provided, although most school boards do it with fewer students, in order to be inclusive of all communities). School boards collect grants from the Ministry of Education to run the programs (hire staff, provide space, offer professional development for teachers, etc.). This paper, which describes how ILE (International Language Organizations, for us, community-based heritage language schools), gives valuable information about how to build and sustain the key features of these schools.

MÓÐURMÁL (the Association on Bilingualism) – is an umbrella organisation of community-based heritage language schools in Iceland. Its goals are to teach children their heritage languages, support HL schools and HL teachers, support parents of plurilingual children, take part in research on bilingualism and HL, develop HL instruction, and support active plurilingualism in Icelandic society. Móðurmál also runs a large library with over 6,000 books in over 50 languages, available for children and youth across Iceland

Mother Tongues is a social enterprise working to promote multilingualism and intercultural dialogue in Ireland. We have many resources and hold many events that benefit heritage language enterprises around the world.

The New South Wales (NSW) Federation of Community Language Schools was established in Sydney, Australia, in 1978 as a not-for-profit organization. The aim of the Federation is to unite all community language schools and work together to sustain community languages and contribute to the multicultural assets of New South Wales. The organization aims to assist all the community language schools to obtain benefits from the various programs offered by the NSW Government and strive to promote language education.

After more than 40 years of growing, the NSW Federation of Community Language Schools now represents 250 member schools in 460 locations (the number increases every year), with approximately 30,000 students who can choose to learn one or more languages from the 57 different languages available.

U.S. Umbrella Organizations

Some community-based schools have umbrella organizations that bring them together and support their work. If you are a CBHL school for one of these languages, feel free to reach out to get the support you need.

U.S. National Organizations

Other organizations, in addition to the Coalition, also focus on heritage language learners and provide information and resources.

International Organizations

A number of international organizations focus on heritage language learners in community-based schools, provide information and resources, and are collaborators with the Coalition.