by Ben Adlin

Classrooms will be empty next month when Seattle public schools kick off an unprecedented school year, with nearly all learning set to happen remotely. For a local nonprofit that pairs hundreds of Seattle students with one-on-one reading tutors, that’s meant figuring how to bring in-person lessons to the virtual realm.

“It is us taking our evidence-based curriculum and digitizing it, and creating a safe and secure platform online,” said Cassy McKee, executive director of the Seattle chapter of Reading Partners, a national nonprofit that in years past has brought books and volunteer tutors to reading rooms at elementary schools that serve low-income families, including Rising Star Elementary in South Beacon Hill.

Things screeched to a halt in March, when the coronavirus pandemic closed schools, but since then the organization has steadily reopened remotely. It’s launched an online library of books and adopted a new translation app to better communicate with families, and this fall it will boot up an online version of its one-on-one tutoring sessions.