 |
 |
 |
Deciding to Apply
Reading Partners has very high expectations for each of our AmeriCorps members - it's a position that you can tremendously benefit from, but which is also demanding. We require that our members take their commitment to a year of service very seriously. For that reason, we encourage you to take a number of factors into consideration when deciding if a Reading Partners AmeriCorps position would be a good fit for you.
Reading Partners AmeriCorps Video from Reading Partners on Vimeo.
What to Expect
Reading Partners offers several different AmeriCorps positions, with multiple positions in all the geographical areas we work in.
Site Coordinator Position Description
Outreach Coordinator Position Description
Reading Partners Plus Student Coordinator Position
A Day in the Life....
Stephanie Benevento
AmeriCorps/Site Coordinator Alum, San Francisco Bay Area
After graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a major in Sociology and a minor in Education, Stephanie knew that she wanted to work in elementary schools. Stephanie joined Reading Partners through AmeriCorps to explore the fields of teaching and social work. “I chose Reading Partners because I could get my feet wet right away,” she says. “Within weeks of starting, I was in a classroom running my own program. Thanks to the training and support I received, I was ready to start working with kids right away.” Stephanie enjoyed her first year and chose to return for a second year of service with Reading Partners. The best part of being a Site Coordinator? “I always come home with fun stories to share. The kids never stop surprising me.”
After completing two successful AmeriCorps terms as a Site Coordinator (her first at a new partner school in Oakland, CA, and her second at Reading Partners' largest site in Mountain View, CA), Stephanie is now pursuing her teaching credential and Master’s Degree in Education at San Jose State University. She credits Reading Partners with helping her find her calling and improving her resume for graduate school.
Locations
Reading Partners currently works in 65 schools across California (San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles), Washington DC, New York City, Dallas and Baltimore. Reading Partners will also likely expand to serve new regions in the 2012-13 year.
To learn more about specific school sites that Reading Partners works with, please visit the appropriate program page below.
California
Benefits
Reading Partners supports corps members during their service year by providing education and career benefits. These benefits are outlined below, but for full information please visit http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/benefits/index.asp
Stipend
You will receive a modest stipend to help you meet living expenses while participating in the program. The stipend amount varies from $15,000 - $19,000 for 11 months and 1700 hours of service depending on location.
Education Award
After successfully completing your term of service, you will receive an education award of $5,550* through AmeriCorps. This amount varies each year, depending on the federally established Pell grant level. You can apply the award toward a college degree, graduate school, or existing or future qualified student loans. Learn more about the institutions that match the education award at http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/benefits/ed_award_match.asp.
The Segal AmeriCorps Education Award is taxable in the year it is used. Eligibility is based on a minimum of 1,700 service hours, completion of all Reading Partners AmeriCorps Program graduation requirements and serving for the entire program length. A school is qualified if it is a Title IV institution of higher education.
*Individuals who serve more than one term of service with AmeriCorps may not earn more than the aggregate value of two full-time education awards.
Federal Student Loan Deferment
You can request that qualified student loans be put into forbearance during your term of service. You can also request to have any accrued interest paid by AmeriCorps at the successful completion of your service term. Most federal student loans qualify for mandatory forbearance based on AmeriCorps enrollment. To ensure participation, please verify the policy on forbearance with your individual lending institution(s).
Health Insurance
Basic health, dental and vision care coverage is provided during your active service.
Childcare Coverage
AmeriCorps*CARES child care benefits are available to corps members who meet the eligibility requirements. For more information, please visit http://www.naccrra.org/americorps/
Training & Ongoing Support
Reading Partners AmeriCorps Members are considered to be the cream of the crop. Our trainings, retreats, service days, and 4-week orientation plan will provide you with the necessary skills and experiences you’ll need to thrive in the area you are most passionate about. You will also gain the leadership skills needed to inspire those around you to create a positive impact in the world.
Program Manager and Staff Support
Your direct supervisor will be a Program or Outreach Manager who will conduct weekly one-on-one check-in meetings and facilitate group team days with the corps members in your region. The AmeriCorps Program Manager will be your AmeriCorps resource and another support system that will check-in with you one on one 2 times throughout your service year to ensure you are getting the most out of your AmeriCorps experience.
Management Training
For our corps members who want to increase the value of their AmeriCorps experience even more and see Reading Partners as a possible long-term career path, we offer additional training to get these folks on an accelerated learning path. These corps members are most likely to become 2nd year Reading Partners AmeriCorps Members (Senior Coordinators) and possibly full-time staff members with Reading Partners after their AmeriCorps service is complete.
FAQs
General Information
Application and Selection Process
Living
Security/Legal Information
What is the Reading Partners AmeriCorps Program?
Reading Partners is a literacy nonprofit organization that recruits passionate, driven, and bright leaders for a year of full-time service, giving them the skills and opportunities to change the literacy crises currently facing the United States. Our corps members recruit, support and train community volunteers to tutor children in order bring them up to a proficient reading level. Our efforts are transforming schools and communities across the United States.
In 2011-12, Reading Partners will provide tutoring to over 3000 students at 65 schools across California, Washington, DC, New York City, Dallas and Baltimore. In addition to working with schools in existing regions, Reading Partners plans to expand to new cities, states and regions.
What’s AmeriCorps and how does that fit with Reading Partners?”
Reading Partners is honored to be a grantee of AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps is a federal government service program that funds hundreds of programs across the country. Reading Partners is one of those AmeriCorps programs. Most of the new positions we will add next year will be AmeriCorps positions.
What are the eligibility requirements to serve in the Reading Partners AmeriCorps Program?
To participate you must:
- Have a college degree or have attended some college, have a high school diploma or GED, or be willing to earn a GED
- Be able to dedicate 11 months to full-time service (August 2012-June 2013)
- Be at least 17 years old
- Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident alien
- Have served no more than 3 terms in another AmeriCorps, NCCC or VISTA program
- Agree to a background or security check
What is required to complete the program and receive the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award?
To receive the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, a corps member must complete 1,700 hours of service, all Reading Partners completion requirements and serve through the program's graduation date.
When do Reading Partners AmeriCorps Members start service?
All of our AmeriCorps positions have an 11 month term that runs from early August 2012 through late June 2013.
Will I receive training prior to service?
Yes. The first 4 weeks of your service year includes a Reading Partners Introduction & Orientation, during which corps members receive instruction on specific skills including literacy curriculum, volunteer outreach and management, tutor training techniques, working with children, teambuilding and community resource mapping. Corps members also learn about the unique culture of Reading Partners, the various neighborhoods of the community and the types of service you will be performing. There will also be regular bi-weekly trainings throughout the year to enhance your service and improve your leadership skills.
Application and Selection Process
When is the application deadline?
Applications are currently being accepted, although interviews will not begin until March 2012. Decisions will be made on a rolling basis at that time.
When is the best time to apply to Reading Partners?
The earlier you apply, the greater your chances for acceptance to your preferred location.
How competitive is the admissions process?
Each year, approximately one out of every five eligible applicants is accepted.
How long will the selection process take?
The length of the selection process will vary according to the volume of the applications Reading Partners has received at the time of your submission. Based on the submission of a completed application, applicants will be contacted within two weeks of the application submission. If you advance to the interview process, you will participate in a phone interview and up to 2 in-person interviews at a reading center or regional office.
Can I apply to more than one location at a time?
When you submit your application, you can indicate which locations and which types of positions you are interested in. You will be considered for all available openings with one application.
Does Reading Partners provide housing?
No. Reading Partners does not provide housing for its corps members.
Will I get paid?
Yes, as a corps member you receive a semi-monthly living stipend which will be subject to ordinary income tax. The stipend amount varies from $15,000 - $19,000 for 11 months and 1700 hours of service depending on location. To help you learn to manage with limited income, we provide training on personal finances.
How can I best prepare for my year with Reading Partners?
In the months prior to the start of service, we recommend you finalize all living arrangements. Begin to budget your expenses to ensure you are ready to make wise spending decisions while living on a stipend.
Can I work or take classes while serving with Reading Partners?
Yes, as long as it does not interfere with your service commitment. Some corps members work or take classes during evenings and weekends.
Will I earn vacation, holidays, and sick days?
Reading Partners offers time off for most national holidays as well as an extensive Winter Break Vacation. You will have a set number of sick days given at the beginning of service. The bottom-line requirement is that upon completion of service, you must have accrued a total of 1700 hours of service.
What type of health insurance will I have?
All corps members receive basic health, dental and vision insurance coverage during their active service. There is no charge for the coverage.
Does Reading Partners cover costs to relocate?
Although positions are available across the country, Reading Partners does not cover the cost of relocating for your term of service. We will be more than happy to put you in touch with RP AmeriCorps members who are interested in making housing arrangements with another AmeriCorps member.
Reading Partners' Security and Privacy Policy
We acknowledge that a lot of information is asked of you in completing the online application. The Reading Partners Gateway and Online Application are secure environments. We ensure that any information you submit to us is safe from unauthorized access by encryption, which scrambles all data sent from and to your browser through Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. This prevents anyone from impersonating you or Reading Partners’s server, and prohibits unauthorized individuals from reading your personal information. Reading Partners does not sell or provide any information we collect to anyone.
Online Application
Reading Partners staff will not be able to view any of the information you enter as you are completing the online application; it will only become available to us upon submission of the application. There is no way to save your online application via our website, so we strongly recommend that you compose the application in a separate word processing document and then copy and paste your responses into the application to prevent accidental loss of the application.
Falsification/Misrepresentation
Applicants are expected to provide honest and truthful information on the application. Personal references and proof of citizenship will be requested before a final offer is made to applicants. Falsification or misrepresentation of data will result in immediate disqualification from the admissions process.
Nondiscriminatory Policy
Reading Partners is available to all, without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, political affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, creed, marital status, veteran status, or religion.
Privacy Act Notice
The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C.§552a) requires that the following notice be provided to you: The authority for collecting information from you in this application is contained in 42 U.S.C. 4953 of Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 as amended. You are advised that submission of the information is entirely voluntary, but requested information is required in order for you to participate in AmeriCorps programs.
Legal Information/Criminal Records
Reading Partners asks all applicants to disclose any previous criminal records and / or proceedings. Existence of criminal convictions / adjudication may or may not, depending upon the circumstances and nature, disqualify you from considerations. Any violent or sexual offenses will automatically disqualify you. Any intentional misrepresentation or omission will automatically disqualify you.
Contact
If you have any questions about the Reading Partners AmeriCorps program, please contact the AmeriCorps Team at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
