ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Fewer than 15% of 3rd graders in the Rochester City School District are reading at grade level and only 21% of 8th graders are considered proficient readers according to the most recent state data. The startling statistics are forcing an “all hands on deck” approach this summer.
“I could be grumpy all day long but grumpy wasn’t teaching nobody how to read,” says Michael Patterson, Rochester City Council Member. That’s why this summer, the Rochester City Council stepped up with funding for a summer reading program of its own. “After third grade, you read to learn and in a community, where the vast majority of our kids aren’t reading on grade level, this is all hands-on deck work,” Patterson says.
Rochester City Council Vice President LaShay Harris and Councilmember Patterson partnered with Primetime585 and the New York City-based Read Alliance to bring a reading camp to Rochester. The camp teaches phonics-based reading to 90 city kids in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. The kids get a free hot lunch every day, snacks and time for recreation in the school gyms and playgrounds…