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Making a Difference, One Student at a Time

Friday, 26 September 2008 00:00

Los Angeles Schools Take Advantage Of New, Community-Based Tutoring Program

Contact: Kim Acker
650-269-2888
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Los Angeles, CA - September 26, 2008 – When Steve McCray, the principal at Lawndale’s William Green Elementary School, learned that his students would be assigned specially trained tutors to help them improve their reading skills this year, he was overjoyed.  “Reading is the key to every subject in school,” says McCray.  “This program fits perfectly with what we’re doing in the classroom already.  So many kids need extra support, and this program allows them to get it.”

Three Los Angeles area schools – the Washington Accelerated Elementary School in Pasadena, the William Green Elementary School in Lawndale, and Aspire Clarendon Charter Elementary School in Huntington Park – will all be receiving free tutoring services through Reading Partners this year.  Reading Partners is a San Francisco-based children's literacy non-profit organization that is now expanding its operations to include Los Angeles.  The organization trains community volunteers to tutor struggling young readers, and partners with underserved schools to integrate individual tutoring into the student's regular school day.


“The future of America depends on children’s ability to read,” says Michael Lombardo, the Executive Director of Reading Partners.  “If we can't ensure our kids have the basic skills they need, thirty years from now we won't be able to compete in the global economy.  Our program shows the power of a community solution to get every child the individualized help they need.”

Reading Partners offers free services to high-need, Title 1 public schools to help struggling young readers from low-income families succeed in reading. The Reading Partners program targets low-income children who have fallen behind one to two grade levels in reading. According to national assessments, 88% of California’s 4th graders that qualify for the state’s state free and reduced-price lunch program currently read below grade level.

The organization recruits local volunteers, ranging from high school students to retirees, and trains them to use a structured curriculum to actually teach reading at each student's individualized reading level. These volunteers fill in the gap when few other resources are available.  “With the state’s budget cuts, and the country’s current economic crisis, dollars are limited,” says Principal McCray. “This program makes it possible for kids who need it to get the critical extra support that they might otherwise have to do without.”

About Reading Partners

Reading Partners, formerly YES Reading, is California’s fastest growing children's literacy nonprofit organization. Reading Partners trains community volunteers to teach reading to work one-on-one with struggling student readers, and partners with underserved schools to integrate tutoring into the student's regular school day. Seeking to reach 1,000 children in the 2008/2009 school year, Reading Partners is actively recruiting volunteers. For more information, please visit www.readingpartners.org