A Milpitas-based nonprofit is looking for volunteer tutors to work with young students struggling to read.
Reading Partners provides elementary school-age children with programs designed to help them read at grade level by the time they reach fourth grade. During the pandemic, the nonprofit developed Reading Partners Connects, a hybrid approach to tutoring to ensure that students are able to receive literacy support regardless of public health circumstances.
Where it is feasible to do so safely, Reading Partners will offer its traditional in-person tutoring program, with community volunteers working one-on-one with students in a dedicated reading center in local public schools. In cases where in-person tutoring is not possible, Reading Partners Connects will allow volunteer tutors to work remotely with individual students in real time. Lesson plans and volunteer coaching are the same for both models.
According to Reading Partners’ Impact & Innovation report for the 2020-21 school year, 301 students at 14 partner schools in Silicon Valley were matched with 455 community volunteers who delivered a total of 9,343 tutoring sessions over the course of the year. 100% of these tutoring sessions were online via Reading Partners Connects. Volunteers received a collective 2,272 hours of training last year.
In the 2021-22 school year, Reading Partners expects to provide direct literacy tutoring and support to more than 500 students in Silicon Valley.
To volunteer with Reading Partners, visit readingpartners.org/volunteer.