The National Campaign for Grade Level Reading brings together community partners to advance the goal of all children reading on grade level by the end of third grade. The movement is about ensuring that children, regardless of family income, succeed in school and graduate prepared for college or a career, and active citizenship.

In support of this goal, communities focus on five elements: kindergarten readiness, school attendance, summer learning, healthy learners, and family and community engagement.

While one organization may be the backbone for this work in a community, change cannot be made without the support of community stakeholders, such as school districts, early learning and out of school time providers, the business and faith communities, health and social service providers, and community organizations.

United Way Suncoast has adopted the framework of the Campaign for Grade Level Reading for all of our Education work.

United Way Suncoast serves as the lead in three counties for the Campaign for Grade Level Reading (Desoto, Hillsborough, and Manatee), and we partner with the remaining two counties (Pinellas and Sarasota) in our in our five-county area.

Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (SCGLR) – Manatee and DeSoto

The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (SCGLR) is a four-county effort in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties in Florida to help children from birth through 3rd grade, especially those from asset-limited families, succeed in life by ensuring they read on grade level.

Since 2015, United Way Suncoast has led the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in Manatee County. SCGLR focuses on raising awareness, developing long-term partnerships, and creating systems changes that impact policy in the following areas: school readiness, attendance, barrier removal and summer learning, wrapped through the lens of parent/family engagement.

In 2019, DeSoto County joined the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading with United Way Suncoast serving as the lead. Learn more about the SCGLR.

Hillsborough Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (HCGLR)

United Way Suncoast serves as the lead agency for the Campaign for Grade Level Reading efforts in Hillsborough County. The HCGLR works to ensure more children enter kindergarten ready to learn and have supports to read on grade level by the end of third grade. Through collaboration with strategic community partners and local families, United Way Suncoast has engaged the community to develop R.U.S.H (Read United Seminole Heights) to Literacy, a community plan that focuses on Seminole Elementary, in Seminole Heights, and the 33604 zip code area. To learn more about the HCGLR, please reach out to Nicole Brown at nbrown@uwsuncoast.org. 

Pinellas County Campaign for Grade-Level Reading

The Early Readers, Future Leaders: Pinellas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, led by the Juvenile Welfare Board, was created to reverse this trend, and is focused on five core factors associated with third-grade reading proficiency: School Readiness, School Attendance, Summer Learning, Parent and Family Engagement, and Healthy Readers. Learn more.