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Harbor Bend Reads requests $42,262 from the Harbor Bend Community Foundation to run the Summer Reading Initiative for 150 students in grades 2–5 at three Harbor Bend elementary schools from June 2027 to May 2028. Fifty-eight percent of third graders in the district read below grade level, and students who lose ground over the summer rarely make it up in the fall.

Four trained reading coaches will lead small-group tutoring four days a week through the summer and twice a week after school during the year, with six family reading nights. By May 2028, at least 70% of participating students will gain one or more reading levels, measured by pre- and post-assessments. The total project cost is $69,822; the school district contributes classroom space and a community tech fund provides assessment tablets.

Harbor Bend Reads was founded in 2014 by retired teachers to help every child in Harbor Bend read at grade level by the end of third grade. Each year we serve about 400 students through in-school tutoring, a summer program and a free book exchange.

In the 2025–26 school year, 68% of students in our in-school tutoring gained at least one reading level. Program Director Dana Morales, a former reading specialist with 12 years in the district, will lead the initiative and supervise the coaches.

In spring 2025, 58% of third graders in the Harbor Bend school district scored below grade level on the state reading assessment, compared with 44% statewide. At the three schools in this project, where more than 80% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, the figure was 67%.

Summer makes the gap wider. Teachers at these schools estimate that students lose four to six weeks of reading progress over the break, and only one of the three schools offers any summer programming. Families told us in our 2025 survey that the main barriers are cost, transportation and a lack of books at home.

“My son loved the library program, but it ended when the bus route was cut,” one parent wrote. The Summer Reading Initiative brings tutoring to the schools students already attend, at no cost, with books they can keep.

Goal: Students in grades 2–5 at three Harbor Bend elementary schools read at or closer to grade level.

Teachers refer students reading one or more levels below grade. Coaches work with groups of four to six students for 45 minutes, four mornings a week for six weeks in the summer and two afternoons a week during the school year, using leveled readers matched to each group. Every student takes home a book bag and a reading journal, and six family reading nights show parents simple ways to read together.

Small-group, leveled instruction is the approach our in-school program already uses, and it is well supported in early-literacy research. The school district provides classrooms at no cost, which removes the transportation barrier families named in our survey.

Results will be shared with the Foundation in a mid-year update and a final report, and with partner schools each term. Coaches review attendance weekly and follow up with families after two missed sessions.

Reading coaches: four part-time coaches × 400 hours × $16.25/hour = $26,000, plus 8% payroll taxes ($2,080). We request 60% ($16,848); the district’s after-school fund covers the rest. Leveled reader sets: 120 sets × $35 = $4,200, reused in future years.

The largest one-time costs, reader sets and coach training, carry into future years. The school district has agreed to keep providing classrooms, and we will include the school-year tutoring in our 2028 request to the district’s after-school fund. Summer costs will move into our annual individual-giving campaign, which raised $165,000 last year.

With the Foundation’s support, 150 Harbor Bend students will spend next summer reading instead of falling behind, and their families will leave with books and habits that last. Thank you for considering this request. Dana Morales, Program Director, can answer any questions at dana@harborbendreads.example or 555-0110.