Hamilton Reads

Hamilton Reads is committed to meeting the challenge of having all children reading well and independently by the end of the third grade. Our mission is to get kids excited about reading, improve local elementary students’ literacy skills, provide greater access to books and opportunities to read with an adult, and support literacy development at home.

The Hamilton Reads program targets children who are somewhat below reading level for their grade in an effort to catch them up prior to the end of the academic year. Tutors work with second and third graders, each student getting to work with their own personal Hamilton Buddy for the whole semester. We emphasize the three C’s: confidence, comprehension and consistency, and work within the framework of a “three-book system”, which involves previewing, reading and re-reading books each week. At the end of the year, we bring the children to campus, along with interested family members and teachers, for a celebration that includes awards, books to take home for the summer, and cake! 

As of 2023, 30 Hamilton students worked individually with students at Clinton Elementary School in Clinton, NY and Bellamy Elementary in Rome, NY. We hope to keep expanding our program and reach as many kids as possible! We are currently putting a strong emphasis on our three-book-system and collecting data on the students' progress to measure the success of our program.  Hamilton tutors receive training through the resources of the COOP and from previous Hamilton Reads tutors.  Hamilton students are expected to commit to two hours a week Monday-Thursday to read with local students.

For more information please contact:

rclark@hamilton.edu