1999: Three community leaders, Mary Wright Shaw, Molly McCrory, and Jean Bacigalupi launched a one-on-one tutoring program to help children who had fallen behind in reading at Belle Haven Community School in Menlo Park, CA in the Silicon Valley

2001: Our three founders recruited a dedicated group of volunteers to tutor students at a local elementary school—these volunteers quickly recognized the powerful effect of one-on-one attention and in 2001 YES Reading was incorporated as a 501(c)(3)

2004: YES Reading hires first full-time executive director and expands to second school site at Selby Lane Elementary in Redwood City

2007: Program expands to serve schools in the Oakland/East Bay area

2008: YES Reading expands to serve San Francisco schools

2008: YES Reading renamed as Reading Partners

2008: Reading Partners expands to Los Angeles, CA

2010: Reading Partners awarded first AmeriCorps grant

2010: Reading Partners expands to Washington, DC, our first expansion outside of CA

2011:  Reading Partners expands to New York City

2011: Reading Partners selected as Social Innovation Fund recipient

2012: Reading Partners expands to Baltimore, MD, Dallas, TX (January), and to Denver, CO (August)

2013: Reading Partners expands to Tulsa, OK and Charleston, SC

2014: MDRC randomized control trial proves Reading Partners is an effective intervention

2014: Reading Partners expands to serve students in Seattle, WA

2015: Reading Partners expands to serve students in Twin Cities, MN, Charlotte, NC

2017: APA, a leading national education research firm, found that students served by Reading Partners (particularly English Language Learners) showed significantly greater improvement in their literacy skills than comparison students not served by the program

2017: Reading Partners is recognized as a best practice honoree by the Library of Congress

2018: Reading Partners adopts a new strategic plan

2019: Reading Partners celebrates 20 years of impact and introduces a new logo

2020: Reading Partners quickly adapts to the widespread disrupted learning caused by COVID-19, successfully developing and implementing an innovative online tutoring platform called Reading Partners Connects

2022: Reading Partners surpasses 2.5 million tutoring sessions delivered to students