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In spring 2025, 58% of third graders in the Harbor Bend school district read below grade level, compared with 44% statewide. At the three schools we serve, where more than 80% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, the figure is 67%, and only one school offers any summer programming. Children who aren’t reading well by the end of third grade are far more likely to struggle for the rest of school.

One in five households in Eastvale County reported skipping meals to pay rent in the county’s 2025 community survey, up from one in eight in 2022. The county’s only full-service grocery store east of the river closed in March, leaving 11,000 residents more than two miles from fresh food and without a direct bus route. Our pantry’s visits have risen 40% since the closure.

Pine Ridge County has one licensed therapist for every 4,800 residents, a third of the state average, and the nearest psychiatric crisis unit is 90 minutes away. Last year, 62% of calls to our warmline came after 6 p.m., when no local provider is open. Teens told us in focus groups that they don’t know where to turn and worry about being seen at the only clinic in town.

Why us. We were founded by retired teachers who knew these schools, and we still work inside them: our coaches tutor in the classrooms students already know, and principals refer the students who need us most.

Proof it works. Last year 68% of students in our in-school tutoring gained at least one reading level, and 91% of families said their child reads more at home.

The plan. Over the next three years we will bring summer and after-school tutoring to all six elementary schools in the district, reaching 400 students a year, at a cost of $210,000 a year.

Why now. The district has offered classroom space in all six schools starting next summer, and a local donor will match every new gift up to $50,000 this year.