Reading Partners Seattle doubles school partners to expand access to literacy tutoring

A volunteer tutor and a student in a reading center engaging in Reading Partners’ traditional tutoring program (Photo Credit: Reading Partners)

Local nonprofit delivered nearly 8,000 one-on-one tutoring sessions and over 5,500 books to hundreds of students in Seattle last year

SEATTLE, Wash. – September 5, 2023  — Reading Partners has been a fixture in the Seattle education landscape for a decade, and in that time, they have provided more than 60,000 one-on-one tutoring sessions to thousands of students.  Since schools returned to in-person instruction in 2021, Reading Partners has doubled its impact in the Seattle community. Heading into its tenth year in the region, the nonprofit literacy organization will partner with ten local elementary schools in Highline and Seattle to help over 350 students build their reading skills and confidence through individualized instruction. Additionally, this year, Reading Partners will release a new and improved online platform to make online tutoring more interactive for students and to broaden the pool of volunteer tutors throughout Puget Sound.

“We take early literacy and educational equity very seriously at Reading Partners,” executive director Joyce Macek said. “We exist to help close the opportunity gap for students who are furthest from educational justice. Through partnerships with schools and families, we aim to reach as many students as possible in our communities. Reading Partners’ one-on-one community-powered tutoring model, available both in person and online, offers a personalized way for elementary students to accelerate their literacy growth while building the confidence needed to succeed.”

2022-23 results highlight the literacy progress of Reading Partners’ students

In the 2022-23 school year, Reading Partners Seattle continued to provide critical literacy support to students, schools, and communities. In fact, the nonprofit provided one-on-one literacy tutoring to 34% more local students in the 2022-23 school year than the prior year. Each year, Reading Partners publishes reports highlighting student performance for the national organization and for each of its 12 respective regions across the country. The impact reports for the 2022-23 school year have recently been posted on staging.readingpartners.org and include the following highlights in Seattle.

• 253 students received 12 or more sessions of one-on-one tutoring

• 7,881 total tutoring sessions were delivered to those same students

• 369 community tutors supported students

• Over 5,555 books were distributed to students through the “Take Reading With You” program and other school-wide events

• 81% of K-2 Reading Partners students were developing mastery of key foundational reading skills needed to read at grade level

• Reading Partners collaborated with Highline Public Schools to offer its first summer programming option for students

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

• Learn about Reading Partners’ national impact here.

“Our continued relationship with Reading Partners is key to the success of many of our students,” said Wendy Eckert, Elementary Specialist, Sanislo Elementary School. “The committed one to one relationships that students build with their tutors not only helps them grow emotionally, but also academically. We are grateful for our partnership!” 

Volunteer tutors are needed to drive student impact in Seattle

Heading into the new school year, Reading Partners Seattle anticipates needing over 450 community volunteers to support students’ literacy development. Please follow this link if you’re interested in investing one hour a week over the course of the school year to help empower a student through reading.

Reading Partners also gets help from AmeriCorps members to train and provide ongoing support to literacy volunteers. Please follow this link if you’re interested in becoming an AmeriCorps member at Reading Partners.

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About Reading Partners

For nearly 25 years, Reading Partners has helped empower students to succeed in school and beyond by engaging community volunteers to provide proven, one-on-one literacy tutoring. Since its founding, the national nonprofit organization has mobilized over 80,000 community volunteers to provide more than 2.7 million individualized literacy tutoring sessions to more than 75,000 elementary school students in over 500 under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia. Visit staging.readingpartners.org to learn more about our program impact and our Reading Partners Connects online program innovation, or connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Reading Partners is a proud AmeriCorps service partner and has been endorsed by The New York Times and featured on The TODAY Show and GMA.