Our Initiative
Achieving this critical milestone can mean the difference between a child who goes on to have a successful educational experience and one who struggles for the rest of his or her academic career. In fact, a child who does not read proficiently by third grade is four times more likely than a skilled reader to drop out of school without earning a diploma.
In today’s economy, the lack of a high school diploma drastically limits one’s career options and often condemns an individual to a life of constantly struggling to make ends meet. Society pays the price, as well. Those without a high school diploma are over 70% more likely to be unemployed, and 80% of America’s federal prison inmates are high school dropouts. The stakes couldn’t be higher. The time to intervene in this crisis is early on – before third grade.
For more than a decade, GrowSmart has actively participated in the national Campaign for Grade-Level Reading network. Our partners are Virginia Beach City Public Schools, the Virginia Beach Public Library, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Virginia Beach Office of Volunteer Resources, the nonprofit organization Square One, Mile High Kids Community Development, GrowSmart Foundation and United Way South Hampton Roads.
Membership in the national network connects Virginia Beach with other community coalitions, enabling us to exchange ideas, share resources, and collaboratively tackle tough problems. The Campaign also offers its member communities technical assistance to implement action plans, as well as exclusive access to partnership and funding opportunities.
Virginia Beach READS Focus
Virginia Beach READS focuses on three pillars of success proven to directly impact reading proficiency:
- Kindergarten readiness.
- Summer learning.
- Reading proficiency.
By connecting with early care and education providers, and families and engaging our community as reading mentors, we are supporting our early learners to be successful in school.
Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is a critical milestone toward high school graduation and career success because it marks the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Students who have not mastered reading by that time are more likely to drop out of high school and struggle throughout their lives. This benchmark is the single best predictor of on-time high school graduation.
2024 Numbers at a Glance
Learn About Our Work
Our Campaign
Virginia Beach READS is proud to be among over 350 communities committed to promoting school readiness, ensuring on-time daily attendance, and combating the summer slide.
Pacesetter Honors
Awarded Pacesetter Honors by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading for our efforts in school readiness, the use of technology, and our work with summer learning and after-school programs.
Summer Slide
The Virginia Beach Public Library and the Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation co-lead Virginia Beach READS’ summer learning efforts.
School Readiness
Our results speak for themselves: In 10 years, the number of Virginia Beach students lacking basic pre-reading skills upon entering kindergarten has decreased from 1 in 5 to 1 in 10.