Tutoring program pushing to expand in Sonoma County

For engineer Mark Dolan, the immediate returns for a job well done at his day job can sometimes be elusive. But not so when he spends 30 minutes a week helping a young student learn to read.

"It's a great feeling," he said. "You get that sense of accomplishment. It's something you can tangibly see. Whereas in a day-to-day job you don't always get that return on effort."

Dolan, a principal engineer at Medtronic, is so sold on the Schools of Hope volunteer tutoring program that he has become volunteer coordinator at the biotech company and even recruited his wife and his mother to the cause.

Opening its third year in Sonoma County, the Schools of Hope volunteer program is more than doubling down on its push to dramatically increase reading proficiency among the county's youngest students.

Inaugurated in 2010, Schools of Hope was introduced at six Sonoma County campuses. Last year, the program grew to include 375 volunteers working on nine campuses.

For the current school year, the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County and the United Way of Wine Country are pushing to expand the weekly tutorial program into 20 schools from Forestville through Santa Rosa to Petaluma and into the Sonoma Valley, an expansion that calls for at least 500 new volunteers.

"I particularly enjoy it because it's one on one," said Carol Orme of Santa Rosa, who has volunteered at Spring Creek school in Rincon Valley the past two years. "It's very focused and concentrated. You know where the child needs to go and you have the tools to get them to that point. It's very satisfying."

Schools of Hope focuses on first-, second- and third-graders -- students who fall just below a proficient ranking on the state academic index. Tutors are trained and regularly check in with teachers for direction and to confer on a child's progress.

The program's stated goal in 2010 was to increase reading proficiency among third-graders from a countywide rate of 46 percent to 75 percent by 2014-15.

The most recent Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program scores show that the county's youngest readers are still struggling. Fewer than half -- 49 percent -- of third-graders in the county scored proficient or advanced in English language arts in 2012.

And third-graders are considered a threshold group because in fourth-grade students are expected to read for content and comprehension.

So backers of Schools of Hope are redoubling their effort to increase literacy among Sonoma County's youngest students.

"It's a great program; it's amazing," said Steele Lane Elementary School Principal Kelley Dillon. "Teachers speak very highly of the program."

Modeled after a program in Madison, Wis., Schools of Hope pairs tutors with the same student all year. For a least 30 minutes a week, students will practice sounds and blends, read aloud and break down sentences.

Thirty minutes of one-on-one reading help for a child who is approaching proficiency but just needs a boost can be invaluable, said Guadalupe Perez-Cook, principal at Brook Hill Elementary School where 65 percent of the students are English-language learners and 91 percent qualify for a free or reduced lunch.

"Our students don't necessarily have someone at home, next to them, listening because they might be getting dinner on the table," she said. "They get that one-on-one attention in terms of support -- it's positive all around."

Spring Creek School Principal Emily Davis said the program offers students consistency, which helps them both academically and personally.

"I think the best thing about it is kids who are struggling often don't have adult interaction around education except at school and except with their teacher, so this is another adult in their lives that cares about them," she said.

Staff Writer Kerry Benefield writes an education blog at extracredit.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. She can be reached at 526-8671, kerry.benefield@ pressdemocrat.com or on Twitter @benefield.