The Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation has awarded a $282,500 grant to Holyoke Public Schools to support a pilot literacy tutoring program for students at four elementary schools.
The Davis Foundation is providing $282,500 to launch the program and made a commitment to continue funding to maintain the level of Ignite Reading seats through the 2026-27 school year. The funding will allow HPS to contract with Ignite Reading to provide “high dosage” individualized one-on-one support from trained tutors for students who are struggling readers.
“This is a joint initiative between Holyoke Public Schools and the Davis Foundation,” Superintendent Anthony Soto said. “HPS continues to fund and support early literacy efforts, and we will continue to pursue additional funding to support the essential milestone of early literacy.”
Ignite Reading’s tutors will be assigned to work individually with 113 Holyoke students in grade 1 to help them close foundational reading skills gaps. There is a total of 168 first-grade students in the four participating schools—so tutoring support will reach 67% of these schools’ first-graders in the first year.
Tutors will begin their work by conducting a baseline assessment of each participating student to determine where they should start in the sequence of foundational skills. From there, tutors will work one-on-one with their assigned student for 15 minutes each day until the student has mastered their foundational skills lessons. If a student completes this work before the year’s end, another student will be assigned to take their place.
“Our goal is to triple the number of first graders who are reading at or above grade level,” said HPS Executive Director of Academics Rebecca Thompson. “Already this year we are seeing beginning-of-the-year literacy improvements for students in grades K-1, with an increase of 10 percentage points compared to previous years. We met our state target on MCAS for grade 3 last year, as well. We believe we can continue to improve this trend through our existing early literacy strategic plan alongside the high-dosage tutoring that the Ignite Reading program will provide.”
The Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation supports a variety of nonprofit organizations seeking to improve the quality of life in Hampden County, with a focus on early education (birth-age 5), early literacy, innovation and excellence in education, economic mobility, along with providing general community supports in a variety of additional areas.
“I have known the Davis Foundation for years,” Superintendent Soto said. “Throughout that time, the foundation’s commitment to early literacy has been unwavering. I'm so grateful for their investment in our youngest learners. I look forward to this additional partnership to our early literacy efforts."