The history of Reading Partners North Texas

In 1999, three community leaders committed to improving children’s literacy and life opportunities founded Reading Partners. They launched a one-on-one tutoring program to help struggling readers by recruiting a dedicated group of volunteers to tutor students. Our founders quickly recognized the power of individualized intervention, and the organization was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) under the name YES Reading in 2001. The organization changed its name to Reading Partners in 2008. In 2011, Reading Partners was awarded a multi-year, $3.5 million Social Innovation Fund investment, which catalyzed our growth from a local organization to a national organization. With this award, Reading Partners North Texas was born.

In January 2012, we began serving students in Dallas, our first region in Texas. Known at the time as Reading Partners Dallas, we began our work in two Dallas ISD schools serving 84 students. Since then, we have had many accomplishments! Our student enrollment has grown exponentially, with a goal to serve 1,025 students in the 2015–16 year. We have expanded our work with new district partners, Fort Worth ISD, Uplift Education, and KIPP DFW. Our full-time staff has grown from four to 13, and we have partnered with AmeriCorps to multiply our impact, working with 30 members this year alone. We will engage over 1,000 volunteers and countless community partners who make our work possible. We’ve also adopted the name Reading Partners North Texas, to truly encompass our work beyond the confines of the Dallas city limits.

We are thrilled to have grown so quickly in such a short amount of time and have served over 2,000 students in our short lifetime. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to what the next four years will bring us.