Wake schools restarting tutoring program. Volunteers needed for new literacy effort.
The Wake County school system is looking for volunteers to join a new tutoring program that will help young students improve their reading skills.
On Friday, the WakeEd Partnership announced the launch of the Level Up Literacy initiative that will be used in Wake elementary schools for the rest of the school year. Level Up replaces the HELPS curriculum that Wake had to stop using due to a lawsuit over who owned the rights to the program.
Organizers hope to recruit and train enough volunteers to begin Level Up as soon as the week of Feb. 17.
Since 2022, Wake had used the HELPS curriculum provided by the Raleigh non-profit group Helping Education. But on Oct. 31, tutors were told Helping Education had dissolved amid a lawsuit questioning whether it had permission to offer the HELPS curriculum.
An interim program was put together to finish out the fall semester while the school district looked for a replacement for HELPS.
Looking for a new literacy program for Wake students
Wake turned to Read and Feed, a Cary-based non-profit that has helped Wake students for nearly 18 years. Read and Feed runs an after-school literacy program that provides meals, tutoring and books to children from low-income families.
Level Up will provide in-school tutoring for students in grades 1 through 3 who are slightly below grade level in their literacy goals. Tutors work one-on-one with students for at least one hour per week.
The program incorporates the phonics-based science of reading approach that all of North Carolina’s elementary school teachers were required to learn.
Read and Feed will train volunteers and provide their literacy program and resources to support students. Tutors will be provided with ongoing literacy training, coaching and support to meet individual student needs and track progress.
WakeEd Partnership, a Raleigh-based non-profit paid by the district to coordinate the program, will continue to recruit volunteers. It will also work with participating schools on schedules and placement of volunteers
How to volunteer to be a tutor
Go to wakeed.org/levelupliteracy for information on how to volunteer for the program. All prospective volunteers, including those trained in using HELPS, will be required to attend a two-hour training session.
Volunteers will also need to complete a background check if they haven’t done one yet this school year.
