New Reading Program Brings Tutors to Every Elementary Classroom

Burlington’s elementary schools will add reading tutors to every first- and second-grade classroom this year, a district-wide expansion of a program that began as a small pilot at two schools. Starting the week of October 13, retired teachers, college students and trained community volunteers will work with small groups of young readers three days a week. District leaders say the goal is simple and urgent: make sure every child is reading confidently by the end of third grade. Parents, teachers and the tutors themselves describe the program as one of the most hopeful changes to arrive in local classrooms in years.

How it works

Tutors work with small groups for 30 minutes, three days a week. Each group has three or four students who are reading at a similar level, and the sessions happen during the school day, usually during the literacy block, so students do not miss recess, lunch or other subjects.

The tutors follow a structured plan built by the district’s literacy coaches. A typical session includes a few minutes of phonics practice, reading a short book aloud together, talking about the story and a quick word game to close. Classroom teachers decide which students join each group and adjust the groups every six weeks based on progress.

According to the district’s program outline, every tutor will:

• Complete 12 hours of training in early reading instruction before working with students
• Pass a background check, as required for all school volunteers
• Commit to at least two sessions a week for the full school year
• Work with the same students over time, so children have a consistent adult
• Meet monthly with a literacy coach to review student progress

The program is funded through a mix of the district’s operating budget and a three-year grant from the Lakeshore Literacy Fund, a local foundation. District officials said the total cost this year is about $410,000, most of which pays stipends to college student tutors and a part-time coordinator at each school. Retired teachers and community volunteers are not paid, though many receive a small allowance for parking or bus fare.

Why the early grades

Literacy experts have long described third grade as a turning point. Before then, children are mostly learning to read. After it, they are increasingly expected to read to learn, picking up science, history and math from written material. Students who reach fourth grade still struggling to decode words often find themselves falling behind across every subject.

Reading by third grade changes everything that comes after.

Principal Grace Holloway, Champlain Elementary

Holloway’s school was one of the two that piloted the program last spring. She said teachers noticed changes within weeks. Students who had been reluctant to read aloud began volunteering, and several families reported that children were asking for bedtime stories again. “The magic is the small group,” Holloway said. “A child who might hide in a class of 22 can’t hide in a group of three, and they don’t want to, because the tutor knows them.”

District data from the pilot showed that most participating students moved up at least one reading level over a 10-week period, though officials cautioned that the sample was small and that a full-year evaluation will give a clearer picture.

Who the tutors are

Retired teachers, college students and trained volunteers from the community. The district says it has recruited 136 tutors so far, enough to cover every first- and second-grade classroom in the city’s elementary schools, with a waiting list of volunteers who will step in if anyone has to drop out.

Retired teachers

About a third of the tutors are retired educators, many of whom taught in Burlington for decades. Doris Kemper, who taught first grade for 31 years before retiring, said she signed up the day the program was announced. “I missed the moment when a word clicks,” she said. “You see a child’s whole face change. I wasn’t ready to give that up.”

College students

Roughly half are students from local colleges, many studying education, psychology or social work. They receive a modest stipend and, in some cases, course credit. For future teachers, the program offers early classroom experience. “I’ve learned more about teaching in six weeks than in two years of lectures,” said Jonah Pierce, a junior studying elementary education.

Community volunteers

The rest are parents, grandparents, retirees from other professions and local employees whose companies give them paid volunteer time. All go through the same training as every other tutor.

What teachers think

Classroom teachers have mostly welcomed the extra help, though some raised practical concerns during planning meetings last spring. Finding quiet space for small groups in crowded buildings was the most common worry. Schools have responded by converting corners of libraries, hallway nooks and, in one building, a former storage room into reading spaces with small tables and soft lighting.

Teachers also asked that tutors follow the same approach to reading the district uses in classrooms, so students hear consistent language about letter sounds and strategies. The training was built with that request in mind. “The worst thing would be a child hearing one thing from me and something different from the tutor,” said Rebecca Lund, a second-grade teacher. “Instead, it feels like having another teacher in the room who’s on the same page.”

What families can expect

Parents of first and second graders will receive a letter explaining whether their child has been placed in a tutoring group, along with the tutor’s first name and the days the group meets. The district stresses that being placed in a group is not a label or a sign that a child is behind. Some groups focus on catching up, while others are designed to stretch students who are already reading well.

Families will also receive simple at-home activities every few weeks, including word games and suggested library books matched to their child’s reading level. The Fletcher Free Library has agreed to host monthly family reading nights at several branches, with tutors on hand to answer questions.

Key takeaway: Every first- and second-grade classroom will have tutors three days a week, the sessions happen during the school day and families do not need to sign up.

Looking ahead

District officials say they will track student progress through the year and present results to the school board in June. If the program shows strong results, the superintendent’s office has said it hopes to expand tutoring into kindergarten and third grade next year, though that would depend on funding. The school budget on this year’s Town Meeting Day ballot includes money to continue the program after the grant ends.

Community members interested in becoming tutors can apply through the district’s volunteer office. The next training session begins in January, and the district says it especially needs bilingual tutors who can support students and families who speak languages other than English at home.

Parents with questions can contact their child’s classroom teacher or the reading coordinator at their school. The district has also posted a short guide on its website, in several languages, explaining how groups are formed and how progress is measured.

For now, the first sessions are just days away. In classrooms across the city, teachers are setting up small tables in quiet corners, sorting stacks of short books and preparing name tags for a new set of adults. For hundreds of six- and seven-year-olds, those 30-minute sessions could make the difference that lasts well beyond third grade.