About Us:

A community-based initiative to increase the literacy skills of the citizens of Portsmouth.

Portsmouth Reads was developed to confront the problem of illiteracy in the city of Portsmouth. This problem greatly affects the quality of education in our city. In 2002, the PALS test scores indicated 24% of the children entering kindergarten and first grade did not have the basic skills needed to learn to read. Eleven percent of the children tested failed outright and had to repeat the grade level. Research indicated that eighty-eight percent of these children would be poor readers throughout the rest of their school years. Thirty-three percent of the adult population in the city of Portsmouth is functionally illiterate. This not only affects our schools but our job market as well.

Community involvement has been the key to Portsmouth Reads' success. The 2011 PALS test results showed that 90% of Portsmouth's kindergartners mastered their pre-k screening. This was up from a 76% success rate in 2002, which is 14% increase. Portsmouth Reads oversees initiatives aimed at increasing literacy skills among Portsmouth citizens.