Access to Books
Providing access to a wide range of grade-level books for students so they can build at home libraries and engage in reading more often. Children learn to read by reading daily.
Strategy: Build classroom libraries and implement the Vello Program into primary grades.
Unfortunately, socioeconomic factors can lead to tremendous disparities in community schools. Quite often, these schools have far fewer books and many teachers end up purchasing books themselves in an attempt to level the playing field for their students. Before a classroom library was made available, students received 30 minutes of reading time per week. After a classroom library has been implemented, students receive 60 minutes per day of reading time.
Classroom Libraries: $10,000 per classroom
Strategy: The Vello Program
The Vello Program adds even more reading opportunities for students. This 1-on-1 online tutoring program makes volunteering easy. It connects passionate professionals with kids in their community to collaborate on reading growth in real-time. Vello students join from a secure computer inside their classroom. Tutors and students connect through an audio and share screen in order to read e-books, complete comprehension quizzes, and write summaries. Vello students then have access to an online library of over 2,500 books that they can access from school, or from home.
$7,500 per classroom
