Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category

New Haven Reads Summer Session is full of different enrichment clubs that go along with the tutoring hour. The Shine Your Light Club at Science Park is one of them. Recently they designed mood boards with the students to help each student express themselves through art and creativity! They were able to add photos of their favorite things, use items of their favorite colors, and use items they felt represented themselves.

This summer New Haven Reads Summer Literacy Camp was full of learning and fun! With support from the Woman’s Seamen’s Friend’s Society of CT, we were able to bring Mystic Aquarium to our Kindergarten camp four times this summer. Students learned about many aquatic animals including penguins, crabs, lobsters, snails, turtles and more. During each visit students learned about a specific animal and its habitat, while getting to touch various live animals. In addition, every student brought home two brand new books each week that focused on ocean life.

Our rising 1st graders also listened to lots of stories, and worked on phonics, sight words, and comprehension each day, while focusing heavily on short vowels and decoding text. Additionally, we also provided math instruction based on Common Core Kindergarten and 1st grade standards. Students participated in a variety of art projects and hands- on activities throughout the summer too. Ultimately, our campers had a great summer experience and learned so much.

Our young students are now ready to be successful in first grade this coming school year!

We are so excited to welcome two fellows and six interns this summer at New Haven Reads. Our fellows and interns are a staple for our summer sessions and enrichment clubs. They tutor several students  each week and help run our clubs at our different locations.

Name: Julia Lawrence-Riddell
Hometown: Hamden, CT
College and Major: Boston University, class of 2027, Painting and Psychology
Tutor Site: Bristol Street
Clubs: Arts & Crafts and Math II
Favorite Childhood Book: Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

I have always been aware of New Haven Reads, but I never knew the true impact of the programs that they offer. I originally heard about the NHR book bank and tutoring programs from my neighbor, Fiona Bradford, who is the development & communications director for NHR. Years later, I saw that NHR offers summer internships, and I immediately knew that I wanted to apply. I was drawn to the position because I love working with children and also feel strongly about being involved in the greater New Haven community.

Not only have I been involved in tutoring the students, but I am thrilled that this job has given me insight into the array of programs, interventions, and incredible care that takes place behind the scenes. The environment that I have experienced at the NHR Bristol Street location is so welcoming. I genuinely look forward to coming into work every single day. I think the reason NHR cultivates such a warm environment is because you can tell that every staff member and tutor truly cares about the work that they are doing.

In my past jobs I have always been drawn to working with early elementary age students. However, I am so thankful that, at this job, I have the opportunity to work with students ranging all the way through high school. A stand out memory from this summer comes from my time working with an older student. She is very shy, but we immediately bonded over our shared love for art! She opens up the most when we draw together during choice time at the end of our tutoring hour. Through this time, I found out that she is very interested in Harry Potter. I told my colleagues, and we found “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in the book bank for her. Next session we started reading together, and I had never seen her so excited about reading!

I cannot explain enough how happy I have felt in my position as an NHR summer intern. I am looking forward to the rest of my time here this summer!

Catch up with New Haven Reads news!

We’re so proud of our students! New Haven Reads has been empowering students with literacy for 25 years, and the strength and impact of the program continues to speak for itself through the success of our students.

Learn more about our students success, 25 years of NHR and what we’ve been up to below.

Read more here.

We had a wonderful time at the The Elm City Freddy Fixer Parade.  Our staff and volunteers handed out almost 1,200 books along the parade route! It was the most books we’ve ever given away at the parade. It was amazing to see so many familiar faces. We look forward to the parade every year and are already looking forward to next year!

Over the past decade, the Annual Conference of The Reading League has become the definitive gathering for educators, leaders, researchers, and literacy advocates. Our Education Director Hayley and Assistant Education Director Lisa both attended The Summit.

Lisa had this to say about her time at The Summit:

“The Education Team is incredibly fortunate to have the chance to attend this two-day conference. The topic of study this year was data and assessment, which the Education Team and site staff regularly use to tailor a student’s tutoring program at New Haven Reads.

As a commitment to our students and their families, Ms. Hayley and I are frequently invited to attend PPT and 504 meetings to offer perspective and share data with our school partners. To date, we have attended over 35 school-based support meetings for our students–and that number grows each week.

It is no secret that students lose a significant amount of instructional time to assessment at school–particularly this time of year with the SBA and year-end testing. While growth data is essential to monitoring student mastery, it is an important balancing act. You never want to sacrifice the quality of a student’s intervention with the time-sink that can come with testing and data collection. The primary objective of this conference involved getting the most out of the data we collect without sacrificing instructional time.

One of my biggest take-aways from The Reading League Summit was how to hone in on individual student data and fold it into our approach with their tutoring program. We already use our own formative assessment within the student’s individual plans to gauge effectiveness along the way. When we attend special support meetings at the schools, we glean additional data that can strengthen our approach with our students. I definitely appreciated the new perspectives from TRL’s panelists, and I am confident that we will be able to even more effectively collaborate with our students’ support teams, caregivers, and tutors.”

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us!

Over 200 people joined us last night at our 25th anniversary celebration. We enjoyed food from The Big Green Truck and music by Fernanda Franco. Thank you to everyone who joined us and to all our amazing sponsors that helped make our event possible.

If you were unable to make our celebration, you can view our video and digital program below.

Check out our 25th anniversary video here.

Check out our digital program here!

Event Sponsors

Literacy Hero

Literacy Partner

Literacy Supporter

Literacy Advocate