Working with a community of volunteers, Reading Partners' Baltimore (RPB) tutors below-grade readers for 45 minutes twice a week during the school day. Reading Partners currently serves over 750 students across 15 elementary schools. In an effort to provide targeted support to those most in need, Reading Partners works with students who are reading behind grade level, do not participate in individual education programs, and have at least conversational English skills. For kindergarten through second-grade, they target students who have yet to master basic foundational reading skills. For third and fourth-graders, they target students whose reading skills fall between one month and two-and-a-half years below grade level equivalency.
The Baltimore Women's Giving Circle grant will help support Reading Partners' engagement team, which recruits, trains and schedules volunteers to meet students' needs.