Read to Succeed (RTS) announced today that the organization has been awarded $50,000 from the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation.

The funding will support the ongoing implementation of Read to Succeed’s direct service literacy coaching programs including CARE Child Care, CARE Preschool, High Impact Tutoring, and dialogic reading training for families and caregivers.

Building on these programs will strengthen Read to Succeed’s impact on student achievement by creating a coordinated continuum of evidence-based, developmentally appropriate literacy and child development practices for children, and the practitioners who care for and teach them across Western New York from birth through age eight.

“By increasing access to high-quality literacy supports from birth through third grade, Read to Succeed is providing the supports that can level the playing field for economically disadvantaged children, and set them up for academic success, regardless of the ZIP code in which they were born,” said Read to Succeed executive director Anne Ryan.

RTS’s continuum of community alignment for reading excellence (CARE) programs is a quality improvement literacy infusion strategy ensuring that the environments where children, primarily economically disadvantaged children, spend the majority of their day: licensed childcare, preschool and the early grades in Buffalo and Niagara Falls are as high quality and literacy rich as possible.

“We are extremely grateful to The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation; their support allows us to expand and enhance our services to where we can have the most significant impact,” continued Ryan.