Coming soon to Island schools
Major summer tutoring program expanding to year-round effort
The P.E.I. Literacy Alliance will soon pilot its free long-running, impactful summer tutoring program during the school year.
The program, called Ready Set Learn, has run in the summer for the past 18 years.
Alliance executive director Jinny Greaves hopes the tutoring program will begin in Island schools by the end of October.
Each summer, 20 to 25 tutors have worked one-to-one with approximately 800 elementary students who struggle in school. The success of the program has led to expanding into a year-round free tutoring program for children.
During the pilot year, four tutors, one in each federal riding, will work one-to-one with 18 children during each school semester. By the end of the school year, 144 children will have benefited from the pilot program.
Next year, the Alliance plans to grow the program to 800 children.
“The expansion of the Ready Set Learn program is a major priority for the Alliance given the incredible benefit it delivers to schoolaged children who struggle,” said Literacy Alliance Chairman Jeff Murphy.
“By expanding the program into a year-round effort, we will be able to broaden our reach and help many more children with their reading and writing, and by doing so support teachers and parents by offering another learning opportunity for children who could use extra help.”
The Rotary Literacy Foundation is contributing $40,000 to the pilot project.
“We are thrilled to support the Alliance in this endeavor and play a role in helping children get the literacy support they need,” said foundation chairman Gary Scales.
“We want to support our Island children to become good readers. They will soon be our leaders. We need citizens with strong literacy skills for our Island to prosper.”