Thirty-two communities have been named finalists for the All-America City Award, an honor that will be announced July 2, at the end of the Grade-Level Reading Community Network Conference in Denver. Another 25 cities and counties were named finalists for the Campaign’s own Pacesetter Honors.
The communities are among the 124 charter members of the national Network, all of whom have pulled together in extraordinary collaborative efforts to create plans that should increase the number of low-income children who are reading proficiently by the end of third grade.
The full Network will gather in Denver on June 30 to explore and share innovative strategies to turn these early literacy plans into action in their communities. The conference marks the official launch of the Network and of the determined effort to move the needle on third grade reading.
The All-America City Award finalists are drawn from 19 states, representing small towns with fewer than 50,000 people and large metropolitan areas with populations over 500,000. Ten finalists represent coalitions involving multiple jurisdictions, including two that stretch across state lines. One finalist represents an entire state: Arizona.
The finalists for Pacesetter Honors were chosen for their progress or outstanding contributions in school readiness, school attendance, summer learning and state-level leadership, or for their support of the Campaign, the Network, and/or the All-America City Award Process.
