Sit Stay Read!

Our mission is to improve literacy skills using an engaging curriculum, dedicated volunteers, and certified dogs. Yes, dogs! A growing body of research affirms what we see (and if you have ever had a dog you know), that dogs days at school encourage kids to show up. Calm dogs help everybody in the room slow down, tune in, relax, and feel seen and heard. Dogs' nonjudgemental listening skills, soft, warm bodies, and giant eyes signal attention and companionship. Less stressed kids are in a better state to learn and practice reading out loud, writing, and having intentional conversations with adults and peers in their first or a new language. Since 2003, SitStayRead has been working to increase reading fluency, build comprehension and decoding skills, foster clear written expression, establish positive attitudes towards reading and writing, and develop an understanding of and connection with animals. We serve Kindergarten, first, and second grade classrooms in schools who report 90% or higher low income households, and 40% or lower third graders reading at proficient levels. We are currently focused on Auburn Gresham, Austin, Humboldt Park, Little Village, and Pilsen. Curricula have been created in partnership with a Program Advisory Committee, which includes SitStayRead staff, volunteers, teachers, and faculty from the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Literacy, University of Chicago, DePaul University, and Northeastern Illinois University, and is built using Common Core standards. The Department of School Psychology at Loyola University Chicago has also provided assessments of the social emotional impact of our programs. Between 2022-2024 all curricula was revised and bilingual iterations developed. In 2024-25, additional components of Science of Reading were incorporated as we reentered CPS for the first time since COVID lockdowns, and launched a new partnership with the Chicago Public Library as part of their Jump Into Reading initiative.