In May 2015, the Team Read Board of Directors approved the 2015-2020 Strategic Growth Plan which was driven by our commitment to double the number of students we serve by 2020. The plan includes expanding Team Read in Seattle and in partnership with other districts. There are still hundreds of Seattle second and third graders who could benefit from the support of Team Read, and demographic shifts in the region mean that many of the students Team Read would have served in Seattle have moved into neighboring school districts.
New Partnerships
Team Read partnered with Highline Public Schools to launch a pilot program for the 2016-17 school year. Hazel Valley Elementary was chosen to host the first Highline Team Read program starting in October 2016. Teen reading coaches were recruited from Evergreen Campus, which includes three small high schools: Arts & Academics Academy (AAA), Health Sciences & Human Services High School (HS3) and Technology, Engineering & Communications High School (TEC). During the 2016-17 school year, Highline Team Read will serve 45 second and third graders and provide jobs for 37 teen reading coaches. A summer program is also being planned, which will serve 20-40 children and 20-40 teens.
High Touch with New Tech
Team Read was thrilled to receive a $20,000 grant from The Norman Raab Foundation to support the purchase of e-readers for the reading coach/student reader pairs to use Highline’s reading and phonics software programs (Lexia and Raz-Kids) in conjunction with Team Read resources. The grant will also help pay for extra training for the teen reading coaches to learn how to use the software in the Team Read 1:1 tutoring model.