Sparking a Passion for Learning with Reading Partners

Photo credit: Reading Partners

Rooted in education equity and social justice, Reading Partners works with communities to provide students with the individualized reading support they need to read at grade level by fourth grade. Part of a national nonprofit, the Bay Area program impacts K-4 grade students in San Francisco and the East Bay. In Oakland, where Eat. Learn. Play. is providing support, Reading Partners connects over 500 kids with 600 volunteers in 14 elementary schools.

Students who read at grade level by fourth grade have a greater opportunity to succeed in school and beyond. Reading Partner volunteers work one-on-one with students, providing hour-long tutoring sessions that follow a structured, evidence-based curriculum. The sessions focus on the individual needs of the students, helping them to become stronger, more confident readers. Each school site is managed by a full-time Americorps member who works with teachers to identify which K-4 students could benefit from the Reading Partners program.  

To help students truly succeed, Reading Partners not only works with volunteers but also partners closely with teachers, parents, and caregivers. “Reading Partners strives to work with the community, not insert ourselves in the community,” shares Hector Salazar, Reading Partners Executive Director. “We are connecting with the community and working collaboratively instead of just telling them what they need.”  

A key component of the Reading Partners program is the volunteers. Volunteers receive comprehensive training and are then matched with students for two sessions a week. Thanks to the hard work of these dedicated volunteers and Reading Partners staff, Reading Partners was able to keep the program available to students during the pandemic. For two years the program was 100% online, enabling tutors and kids to continue their work together. Sessions are now returning to in-person learning, while the program is also continuing to offer a virtual option for volunteers and students who prefer this way of connecting.  

Reading is the foundation for all future learning, which is why Reading Partners has a goal to serve over 1000 students and expand to 30 schools in the coming year. By empowering communities to provide individualized instruction with measurable results, Reading Partners hopes to help even more children in the Bay Area become lifelong readers.