Schools of Hope

Only 43% of Sonoma County third-graders and 28% of Mendocino County third-graders are proficient or above in reading. Children who are not proficient in reading by the end of third grade are four times less likely to graduate by age 19. Low early reading proficiency is also correlated to incarceration rates and is a predictor of lower adult income. Schools of Hope is an Early Grade Reading Initiative that helps children build the critical reading skills needed to succeed in school and life in Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties in California. The program recruits, trains, and places community volunteers in schools. The volunteers work one-on-one with kindergarten through third grade students during the school day to supplement the work students are doing in the classroom.

Schools of Hope aims to increase third-grade reading proficiency to 75% by 2015 and 90% by 2020.

Students tutored through Schools of Hope have an increased reading proficiency compared to other students.

Schools of Hope students are seen twice a week for at least 12 weeks by volunteer tutors. Among surveyed tutors, 83% reported that they would return to tutor again the following school year. In addition, 93% of classroom teachers expressed they were satisfied or very satisfied with the program. An evaluation by Sonoma State University in 2013 found that first and second grade students who received tutoring showed reading proficiency growth between 15% to 48% higher than non-Schools of Hope students who started with similar scores.