This national program of services for children from birth through third grade prioritizes the number one predictor of school success—third grade reading levels. It has been designed to aid the nearly three-quarters of economically disadvantaged third graders in Santa Barbara County who do not read at grade level.
Santa Barbara County’s comprehensive action plan was approved by the national Campaign for Grade Level Reading in 2017. It is led locally by United Way, along with the Santa Barbara Housing Authority, Public Library, and Santa Barbara Unified School District’s A-OK Program; as well as People’s Self-Help Housing and the Turner Foundation.
Through a coordinated set of services, the Campaign helps lower-income families improve early school readiness, narrow the school attendance gap, reduce summer learning loss, and increase parental engagement.