Reading Partners Sacramento Sees Success in 2016-17 and Seeks 600 Volunteers in the Current School Year

For Immediate Release

Contact:         

Rachel Minnick

Executive Director, Reading Partners Sacramento

916-220-7224  |  rachel.minnick@staging.readingpartners.org

READING PARTNERS SACRAMENTO SEEKS 600 VOLUNTEERS

The early literacy nonprofit looks for more community tutors in 2017-18

(Sacramento, CA) September 7, 2017 — Reading Partners is seeking 600 community volunteers to advance early literacy in the Sacramento region. A national nonprofit organization, Reading Partners collaborates with community volunteers and local public schools to provide students in under-resourced schools with the proven, individualized reading intervention they need to read at grade level by fourth grade. Reading Partners collaborates with teachers and principals at local public elementary schools to identify students reading behind grade level and provide them with personalized literacy instruction in a dedicated “reading center” space at their school.

Calling all volunteers for the 2017-18 school year

Nationwide, only one in five low-income students is reading proficiently by the fourth grade. Tragically, this translates into nearly nine million low-income elementary school students who are unable to use reading as a foundational skill to power their learning in all other subjects in school. Reading is, quite simply, a necessary platform for all future learning. Without developing the reading skills needed to read on grade level, kids don’t have an equitable chance to succeed in school or in life. Students who can’t read by fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of school or not earn a high school diploma.

In the 2017-18 school year, Reading Partners aims to match over 600 community tutors with 400 struggling readers in Sacramento. By tutoring a student one-on-one for as little as an hour a week, volunteers can make an impact that can quite literally alter the course of a child’s educational experience and life.

“Being a reading partner is, by far, the best volunteer experience you can find in Sacramento,” said Rachel Minnick, executive director of Reading Partners Sacramento. “The reading skills you teach your student are important, but it’s even bigger than that – it’s about being engaged in your community in one of the most meaningful ways possible. Plus, it’s just fun!”

2016-17 school year results were strong

Each year, Reading Partners issues student impact reports for the national organization and for each of its 14 respective regions across the country. The impact reports for the 2016-17 school year have recently been posted on staging.readingpartners.org and include the following highlights.

• In the Sacramento region:

  • 415 students were matched with 529 community volunteers at 10 partner schools who delivered a total of 15,726 tutoring sessions over the course of the year.

  • Among Reading Partners’ youngest students in Sacramento, 89% mastered key foundational reading skills needed to read at grade level.

  • Based on survey responses, 100% of principals report improved school-wide reading progress, 98% of teachers report Reading Partners is valuable to their school and 94% of volunteers were satisfied with their Reading Partners experience.

  • Learn more about Reading Partners’ impact in Sacramento here.

  • Learn about Reading Partners’ national impact here.

“I am so proud of the Sacramento students in our program. They worked incredibly hard to make progress toward reading proficiency with the support of their caring reading partners,” said executive director, Rachel Minnick. “We are energized to continue to share and support the vision of local school leaders who want to build a culture of reading at their schools.”

The impressive student results highlighted in the 2016-17 impact reports are made attainable by the generous participation of thousands of community volunteers. To become a volunteer with Reading Partners, please visit staging.readingpartners.org/volunteer today.

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About Reading Partners
Reading Partners empowers students to succeed in reading and in life by engaging community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring. Since its founding, the national nonprofit organization has provided proven, individualized literacy tutoring to nearly 45,000 elementary school students in under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia. Visit staging.readingpartners.org, or connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, to learn more.