Important update about Reading Partners Colorado

To the Reading Partners Colorado community:

I am writing to share some difficult news with you. As some of you have heard, after careful consideration and discussion with Reading Partners’ executive team and our national board of directors, I have made the incredibly difficult decision to cease direct service work in Colorado at the end of this school year. I’d like to provide you with some context behind that decision, and thank you for your impact over the last 13 years.

Since our founding in California in 1999, Reading Partners has been fiercely committed to providing high-quality, research-validated literacy programs for children in kindergarten through fourth grade across the United States. The Reading Partners program launched in Colorado in the fall of 2012, and has since recruited more than 7,400 community volunteers, delivering over 230,000 tutoring sessions to more than 6,000 Colorado students striving to read at grade level. The fact that Reading Partners Colorado has a long legacy of supporting students in growing their reading skills and confidence makes this news particularly tough.

Over the past several years, our Colorado region has encountered persistent financial challenges, and despite the team’s determined efforts, it has become infeasible to sustain our direct-service program locally. While we will not be able to serve students in Colorado next year as originally planned, we will explore with our school partners other potential program models, including a partnership model, with hopes of being able to serve students in a different capacity in the future. We are meeting with representatives of Denver Public Schools and current school partners about potential partnership opportunities in the weeks ahead.

To be clear, the decision to discontinue our direct-service work is in no way a reflection on the skilled leadership, staff, or AmeriCorps members in Colorado who have served students in the region with great passion. In fact, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the talented, mission-driven team who have made such a positive impact in Colorado over the years. Of all of the K-4 students in our program in Colorado last year, 86% achieved their individualized reading growth goals, and 89% of K-2 students developed mastery of key foundational reading skills needed to read at grade level. Those are impressive results that translate into real opportunities for kids and communities in Colorado.

I also want to thank the thousands of regional volunteer tutors, regional board members, donors, and school and community partners for championing our highly effective, evidence-based program since its inception. You’ve helped make a meaningful and measurable difference for students in Colorado for over a decade.

Volunteerism is critically important to creating a vibrant community that promotes access and opportunity for all. I want to emphasize that our program and volunteer tutors will continue to serve Colorado students through the end of this school year. After that, our team is committed to offering options for new and returning volunteers to tutor with Reading Partners students in other areas of the country or through future local partnerships. A member of our team will be in touch with more information in early summer. In the meantime, we invite volunteers to attend one or more sessions in our tutor engagement series over the summer. You can find more information and register here.

Reading Partners has been honored to serve students, schools, and the Denver metro area. It has been a privilege to contribute to the community-wide movement to help children read on grade level by fourth grade. Thank you for your support of our mission to give ALL students the resources they need and deserve to be able to live into their own limitless potential.

With gratitude,

Adeola Whitney
CEO, Reading Partners