• MISSION: The Reading Team helps children in New York’s underserved neighborhoods become strong readers and develop the skills and habits that will support their success in school and in life.

  • Students come from multiple different Harlem-area schools to our free After-School Program, where they tackle the obstacles to academic achievement.

  • The Reading Team Preschool Program brings Literacy Coaches to nine neighborhood preschools, where they engage students in a wide range of literacy-promoting activities.

  • Our small-group instructional model is concentrated on literacy, attentive to the whole child, and responsive to each child’s unique learning style.

PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS

OUR VISION

The Reading Team helps children at high risk of reading failure, by providing nurturing lessons and activities so they can succeed in school and in life. We enable children to overcome the obstacles to literacy excellence and to master the critical-thinking, problem-solving, communications, and behavioral skills that will allow them to reach their full potential in school, in college, and in a future career.

HOW WE DO IT

The hallmark of our programs for children in PreK through Grade 5 is early intervention, before a lack of success in school dampens a child’s inherent enthusiasm for learning. Our trained teaching staff, the majority of whom have Masters’ in Education or are in graduate education schools, attend to the literacy development of children with focused instruction and nurturing attention that fosters academic skills and behaviors that promote success.

WHAT DOES LITERACY SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

  • Our Literacy Coaches are experienced teachers and graduate students of education trained to implement our proven instructional model.

  • Children master key building blocks of literacy success: reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

  • Parents learn the best practices for cultivating their children’s academic achievement.

  • Students in Grades K-2 participate in the highly acclaimed, individualized Waterford Reading Academy program. Older students use the LightSail Lexile-based adaptive e-reading program.

OUR IMPACT

23 years serving Harlem

Thousands of students served

450 hours of instruction per child in our After-School Program each year

Over 80%+ of Reading Team students pass the New York State English Language Arts exam, given starting in 3rd grade