Throughout their time with New Haven Reads, the Perez family has demonstrated how a community of readers is built one child at a time. In 2013, their eldest son Esteban was struggling in school, reading at a second-grade level while in the fourth grade. His mother Reyna heard about our one-on-one tutoring program and Esteban joined the waiting list. Several months later, she was excited to receive the call informing her that there was a space and a tutor.
Within weeks, Reyna and her husband Gabriel saw marked improvement in Esteban’s reading and registered their two younger children, Alex and Andrea, for the Pre-Kindergarten program. Esteban’s grades during the school year began to improve significantly, and Alex and Andrea also began succeeding in school.
Reyna and Gabriel expressed how they appreciate the support that their children receive at New Haven Reads. The children love being tutored and can hardly be convinced to leave at the end of the hour! The Perez family has shared the success of the tutoring program with others in their community. Reyna has been instrumental in bringing five families to New Haven Reads, all of which are just as grateful for the support their children find here.
Esteban now shares the joy he found in reading as a New Haven Reads tutor, helping students in the same way he was supported. “If the people helped me, I have to help others,” he says.
Esteban’s story originally appeared in the 2017-2018 Annual Report.
