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By the end of fifth grade, at-risk children are nearly three grades behind in reading. In Collier County, the number of at-risk students is probably higher than you think.
Twenty-three of Collier County’s 34 elementary schools are Title I, with at least 75% of students enrolled in free or reduced-cost lunch programs due to low family income. Without access to books during summer, children in low-income households return to school with reading scores 30% lower than their peers.
To address the critical social-emotional impact of the “Summer Slide,” Books for Collier Kids distributed 15,000+ books for children to read this summer.
– Marie Gabrielle Patasin, C2 Communications
