Our Story

In the fall of 2021, the our country and more importantly our students were in the middle of a pandemic. Schools were closed and kids were struggling to learn through online instruction. The phrase "learning loss" which was an educational industry term became the lead story for everyone. The question everyone was asking was, "how do we get students back on grade level after being out of a traditional school setting for 2 years"?

WE, determined the place to start was reading literacy.

If a child is not reading at grade level by fourth grade, they are statistically likely to remain illiterate throughout their life. Not only do struggling readers experience higher levels of stress and feelings of isolation during their school years, but they also have a dramatically increased chance of dropping out of high school and entering the criminal justice system -known as the school to prison pipeline.

Since school day instruction was focusedon basic literacy skills, students who can read, even if below grade level, don’t haveopportunities for more advanced intervention. So the P2R was Book Club style reading intervention was born.

Our before school book club became the opportunity for our students to interact with books in a new way. The materials we use are highly engaging, which all kids to make personal connections to the materials they read. 

The P2R Book Club equips students by turning them into readers. As important as astudent’s ability to read and comprehend texts is whether a student enjoys reading. We believethat literacy builds self-esteem. Readers who struggle are more likely to have difficultyexpressing themselves—even verbally. This can lead to anxiety, depression, and negative social behaviors. 

The more able a person is to express themselves, the greater their confidence andtheir sense of self. Reading also offers students mirrors and windows: a chance to see themselvesin the pages of a story and a chance to understand new perspectives.