Now, DCYF is allocating city Student Success Fund dollars to expand the tutoring program to 1,440 more students, focusing on second- through fourth-graders, who are in a pivotal window for literacy development, according to SF Ed Fund. The city fund was created by Proposition G, which voters passed in 2022 to provide SFUSD schools with grants paid for by residents’ excess property tax revenue. The goal was to invest in schools where students were struggling with the academic and social/emotional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“High-impact literacy tutoring helps students build confidence, strengthen critical thinking, and develop the skills they need to thrive in school and beyond,” said Sherrice Dorsey-Smith, executive director of DCYF. “By investing Student Success Fund dollars and working in close partnership with our SFUSD and SF Ed Fund partners, we are expanding access to these services, bringing students off waitlists, and delivering more robust, coordinated support for students and families across San Francisco.”
The new funding will pay for tutors — employed through private providers Chapter One and Braintrust Tutors — to work at additional elementary schools that SFUSD considers those with highest needs. During the initial rollout last spring, tutors were sent to priority schools, which have less than 50% of students meeting literacy standards and more than 50% qualifying as low income.
SFUSD is bringing on an additional 19 tutors for a total of 36 across 20 schools. SF Ed Fund said tutors will start at eight “high potential schools” that weren’t a part of last year’s rollout, including: Paul Revere School in Bernal Heights; Carver, Drew and Malcolm X elementary schools in Bayview-Hunter’s Point; César Chávez and Bryant elementary schools in the Mission; and Visitacion Valley and El Dorado elementary schools in Visitacion Valley.
A spokesperson for SF Ed Fund said most schools’ new tutors will begin next week, while some are expected to start the first week of February, pending hiring and scheduling.
The district said the focus on these campuses aims to address significant literacy disparities across certain groups of students: While just about half of SFUSD students are reading at grade level, only 7% of English language learners, 26% of Latinx and 19% of Black students met state standards for third grade, according to the district.
“This expansion enables us to focus resources on the grade levels and school communities where high-impact tutoring can most effectively accelerate literacy development — helping students catch up, stay on track, and build a strong foundation for future learning,” Superintendent Maria Su said.
