Haverhill Named as Grade Level Reading Bright Spot During Covid-19 Pandemic
Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Announces Bright Spot Communities During COVID-19 Pandemic
HAVERHILL, MA RECOGNIZED FOR WORK IN SUPPORTING
EARLY SCHOOL SUCCESS
HAVERHILL, MA (May 3, 2021) – The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading announced on Friday that is has named Haverhill, MA as a 2021 Bright Spot community for its responses to the COVID crisis last year.
Specifically, CLGR is highlighting communities that developed exemplary or innovative responses to the COVID crisis, including new or adaptive roles, programs, organizational relationships/collaborations, policies and/or resources. In particular, the Campaign is recognizing communities for crafting solutions that seem especially effective, replication-worthy and/or deserving of being sustained during the post-COVID period.
A collaborative effort by funders, nonprofit partners, business leaders, government agencies, states and communities to ensure that more children in low-income families succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career and active citizenship, CGLR focuses on promoting early school success as an important building block of more hopeful futures for children in economically challenged families and communities.
“This has been a very challenging and unique time for Haverhill students and their families, but with a little creativity and a whole lot of collaboration from community partners, we have found ways to keep the cause of grade level reading front and center during the pandemic,” said Jenny Arndt, Campaign Director for Haverhill Promise. “We appreciate this national recognition as a Bright Spot community and look forward to not only sharing our experiences but continuing to learn from other Bright Spot communities about how they’ve navigated the challenges caused by COVID-19.”
Responding to the Spring school closures at the start of the pandemic, Haverhill Promise launched a City-Wide Reading Challenge incentivizing daily reading at home for all Haverhill children. Over 750 students of all ages participated in the challenge, and later in the summer 200 students were invited to help paint a special mural with the help of the local arts organization Creative Haverhill. The finished mural entitled “Reading Takes Us Places” is on display in Downtown Haverhill and celebrates the dedication of students and their families to make daily reading practice a priority amid school closures. Additional Covid-19 related projects included the Haverhill Promise/Haverhill Public Schools summer bookmobile—a two-week project delivering over 2,200 new and gently used children’s books to meal distribution sites around the city, and an attendance awareness poster design contest which challenged students to highlight the importance of remote, in-person, or hybrid school attendance using the phrase “school every day, no matter which way.”
In Haverhill the local GLR campaign is led by Haverhill Promise, a cross-sector collaboration between Haverhill Public Schools, the Haverhill Public Library, educators, parents, non-profit organizations, early education providers, local businesses, and health care providers dedicated to ensuring that all Haverhill children have the tools necessary to achieve grade level reading by the end of Grade 3.
About the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
Launched in 2010, the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a collaborative effort of funders, nonprofit partners, business leaders, government agencies, states and communities across the nation to ensure that many more children from low-income families succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career and active citizenship. Since its launch, CGLR has grown to include more than 300 communities, representing 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and two provinces in Canada — with 5,000+ local organizations and 510 state and local funders (including 200+ United Ways). To learn more, visit gradelevelreading.net and follow the movement on Twitter @readingby3rd.