Parentis Foundation

Empowering Readers OC

Since launching in 2017, Parentis Foundation's dedicated older-adult volunteer tutors have provided more than 75,000 one-to-one reading tutoring sessions to struggling young readers in underserved Orange County communities.

During the 2025–2026 school year, our volunteer mentors delivered approximately 900 individualized tutoring sessions each week, serving 485 students in grades 1–5 across 19 program locations in San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Aliso Viejo, Tustin, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Buena Park, and Lake Forest.

As an enhancement to our one-to-one intergenerational literacy mentoring program, volunteer tutors incorporate our One Kind Word Initiative, which uses engaging children's literature to strengthen reading comprehension while promoting kindness, empathy, and positive character development. Each book includes guided discussion questions, comprehension activities, and opportunities for students and their families to continue meaningful conversations beyond the tutoring session.

One Kind Word promotes:

Anti-bullying
Diversity and inclusion
Equity
Sportsmanship
Fairness
Respect
Responsibility
Trustworthiness
Caring
Mindfulness

The primary goals of Empowering Readers OC are to:

Improve students' reading fluency and reading accuracy.
Foster positive attitudes toward reading and learning.

Student progress is measured through Beginning-of-Year (BOY), Mid-Year (MOY), and End-of-Year (EOY) literacy assessments conducted by our Literacy Reading Specialist. Because our volunteers are the foundation of our program, we also prioritize volunteer retention and an exceptional volunteer experience.

2025–2026 Program Outcomes
485 students in grades 1–5 received individualized reading support.
220 volunteer tutors, age 50 and older, served as literacy mentors.
Services were delivered at 19 program locations throughout Orange County.
Volunteers provided approximately 900 one-to-one tutoring sessions each week, totaling more than 15,000 tutoring sessions during the school year.
Students demonstrated measurable gains in reading fluency, reading accuracy, and social-emotional learning through BOY, MOY, and EOY assessments.
Students also participated in the One Kind Word Initiative, strengthening reading comprehension while developing empathy, respect, responsibility, and other positive character traits through literature-based discussions.
2026–2027 Program Goals
Reading Achievement: At least 67% of participating students will demonstrate a minimum one-half grade level improvement in reading fluency, and 85% will improve their reading accuracy.
Social-Emotional Growth: Students will demonstrate a 70% improvement across four key social-emotional learning indicators: participation, self-confidence, motivation, and concentration.
Volunteer Retention: Retain 95% of volunteer tutors for the 2026–2027 school year.
Volunteer Satisfaction: Achieve 95% overall volunteer satisfaction based on end-of-year volunteer surveys.