Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading to Host Suncoast Remake Learning Days

December 6, 2023 – Sarasota

The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (CGLR) announced today that it is recognizing the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading with Pacesetter Honors for its 2022–23 work. Each year, the national Campaign uses its Pacesetter Honors to highlight communities that make measurable progress on key indicators of early school success.This year’s theme is “Moving the Needle in Impact Areas,” with the categories:

● Ensure that fewer children start school so far behind;
● End chronic absence during the school year (including kindergarten);
● Ensure that striving and struggling readers make progress during the summer;
● Address children’s health-related challenges to learning;
● Equip parents to succeed as their children’s first teachers, advocates, and coaches;
● Advance, align, and integrate grade-level reading and math; and
● Slow learning loss and accelerate equitable learning recovery through access to the internet, tutors, and out-of-school learning.

A collaborative effort by funders, nonprofit partners, business leaders, government agencies, states, and communities to ensure that more children in low-income families succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career and active citizenship, CGLR focuses on promoting early school success as an important building block of more hopeful futures for children in economically challenged families
and communities.

The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a community-wide effort in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties to help all children succeed in school and life by ensuring they read on grade level by the end of the third grade.

“A successful, four-county collaboration, the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading encourages community participation on a wide level to achieve shared aspirations for success for all children and families in our region,” said Beth Duda, Director of the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading for The Patterson Foundation. “Our partnerships and coalition building have ensured that professionals working with our most at-risk children have all the proven tools they need to close the educational
achievement gap. As the Pacesetter designation indicates, we have made significant progress, and together with our local partners, we will continue to mobilize our community and resources to support our schools, city agencies, nonprofits, civic leaders and parents into the future.”

The CGLR put out a call to its vast network of more than 300 communities in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and two provinces in Canada to submit stories that highlight the work being done to improve third-grade reading proficiency, a key indicator of continued success in school and life. Overall, 525 submissions were reviewed by 104 peers representing 24 communities in 13 states. This year, 59 were named as finalists, and 33 were selected for the Pacesetter designation following a robust community-based peer and internal technical review process.

“The dedication and hard work of our Suncoast community are truly paying off,” added Duda. “The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading was recognized for three significant initiatives: ‘Grade-Level Reading,’ consisting of two programs in Sarasota County led by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County; ‘Digital Access for All,’ a four-county initiative led by The Patterson Foundation; and ‘Suncoast Remake Learning Days,’ a second, four-county initiative led by The Patterson Foundation. Moreover, a fourth initiative, ‘Pop Up Neighbor Through Laundry’ led by The Patterson Foundation, was a finalist, showcasing our innovative approach to tackling educational challenges.”

Additional 2022-2023 recognition from the CGLR Communications Expo was given to five tools developed by the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading: Suncoast Remake Learning Days Event Guide, Suncoast Remake Learning Days Recap Video, Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Newsletters, THIS BOOK IS COOL!, and Suncoast Remake Learning Days website.

“It indeed is time to move the needle in impact areas and these Pacesetter Communities demonstrate how mobilized communities are succeeding,” said Ralph Smith, managing director of CGLR. “Let us all learn and grow from recognizing and understanding what they’ve accomplished. We applaud the civic leaders and local funders whose time, talent, energy and imagination have fueled progress in these Pacesetter Communities.”

The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading’s lead partners include the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, United Way Suncoast and United Way of Charlotte County. Additionally, The Patterson Foundation strengthens the impact of the efforts across all four counties.

For more information on the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, visit gradelevelreading.net and follow the movement on social media using #GLReading.