YES Reading expands to Selby Lane School YES Reading expands to Selby Lane School (September 08, 2004)

A new school year also means a brand-new site for the YES Reading program, which is expanding from Belle Haven Elementary School in Menlo Park to a second location at Selby Lane School in Atherton.

The program will get its own classroom at the school, tutoring children in a room that wasn't in use, executive director Sarah Almy said. Members of the community kicked in with furniture and book donations, and the program is also benefiting from a three-year, $150,000 grant awarded by the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund, which has offices in Palo Alto and San Jose.

The volunteer tutors plan to start working with the children on September 20, and an open house is being planned for the new center in October, Ms. Almy said.

While YES Reading tutors worked with 100 children last year at Belle Haven, the program at Selby Lane is expected to start out smaller, with 25 to 30 kids this year, Ms. Almy said.

The children, who range from first- through eighth-graders, will come to the YES Reading center either during the school day or after school.

New tutors are still needed, Ms. Almy said: "They don't need any prior experience, just an interest in helping kids learn to read." Training will be provided.

Tutors work one-on-one with students, helping them learn vocabulary, phonics and reading comprehension, which may be more difficult to master in a crowded classroom. YES Reading began as a tutoring program for at-risk students in East Palo Alto, and set up shop at Belle Haven in 2001.

For more information, call Sara Rutherford, the full-time program coordinator at Selby Lane, at 283-7167.

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