Reading Partners and Charleston County School District Drive Student Literacy Through Strong Partnership

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Kecia Greenho

Senior Executive Director, Reading Partners South Carolina

508-561-3537  | kecia.greenho@readingpartners.org

GRANT FUNDING WILL HELP READING PARTNERS AND CHARLESTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT DRIVE STUDENT LITERACY

North Charleston, SC — May 15, 2018

State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman recently announced that $700,000 in Summer Reading Camp Community Partnership Grants will be issued to school districts and community organizations across South Carolina. Based in large part on having a strong partnership role in the Charleston County School District (CCSD) strategic literacy plan, Reading Partners is one of the recipients of the grant funding, having received a nearly $30,000 grant commitment. The objective of the grants is to build upon existing summer reading camps and provide much-needed literacy support to students who are not reading at grade level who face the possibility of third grade retention.

This year is the first year that Act 284, Read to Succeed legislation will recommend that 3rd graders across the state repeat 3rd grade if they are not reading proficiently on grade level as measured by spring scores on SC Ready. As part of this legislation, students will have the opportunity to attend a district-sponsored summer reading camp. Based on their scores at the end of the summer camp, recommendations to retain will be made. The camp is not mandatory, but encouraged for students who are at risk. The state department of education values community partners and encourages districts to partner with local organizations, like Reading Partners, to provide supplemental learning activities.

This summer, Reading Partners South Carolina is partnering with CCSD during their summer reading camp (as well as with the City of Charleston Recreation Department and the Mayor’s Office for Youth and Family during summer camp at Arthur W Christopher Community Center) to provide additional reading intervention for students. For years, Reading Partners has been engaging the community to play a supportive role in the lives of children using an evidence-based program.

The Reading Partners organization has a strategic partnership with CCSD to leverage the resources of the community to improve literacy for students.  “We believe that students win when organizations and communities rally together to address a challenge,” says Kecia Greenho, Executive Director of Reading Partners South Carolina. The Reading Partners program is a proven, cost-effective model and has the ability to mobilize hundreds of community volunteers.

Reading Partners is a national nonprofit that collaborates with community volunteers and local public schools in South Carolina and in 13 other regions across the country to equip students with the foundational skills they need to be able to read at grade level by fourth grade. Reading Partners volunteers utilize an easy-to-follow, individualized lesson plan each week in order to meet students at their level and help them make the critical transition from learning to read to reading to learn. In South Carolina, over 850 community volunteers are working weekly with students to improve their reading proficiency.

In an effort to strengthen the literacy skills of as many students as possible, Reading Partners South Carolina is constantly looking for more local volunteers to commit just an hour a week to work individually with children who struggle with reading. We are currently recruiting volunteers to work with students in our summer programs, as well as during the school year this coming fall.

To become a volunteer with Reading Partners, please visit staging.readingpartners.org/volunteer today, or call 843.860.3915

Reading Partners volunteers work one-on-one with students. (Photo credit: Reading Partners)

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 to learn more about our program impact, or connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.