Dear Ready for School Supporters,

We are writing to share important updates about Ready for School and Reach Out and Read. This past year has been one of growth, success, and meaningful change for the organization.

Reach Out and Read Michigan has continued its strong trajectory as a statewide Affiliate, delivering its evidence-based early literacy model in 180 clinics across Michigan and serving more than 109,000 children each year. This work is expanding and deeply rooted in communities across the state.

After a year of thoughtful review and discussion, the Ready for School Board has decided to transition administration of Reach Out and Read Michigan to the national office, Reach Out and Read, Inc., based in Boston, MA. The program you have generously supported will continue without interruption. Throughout this transition, the Michigan Affiliate team, the program model, clinic partnerships, and statewide focus will remain in place, now strengthened by the national organization's infrastructure, training, and research base.

As part of this transition, Ready for School will complete its mission and sunset as an organization once the handoff is complete, with formal dissolution of the 501(c)(3) to follow at a later date.

Ready for School was founded in response to a community analysis showing that fewer than half of local children were arriving ready for kindergarten. Over the years, the organization built programs to address the barriers families faced. As the state's PreK for All initiative expanded access to free preschool and fewer families required scholarships, Ready for School shifted resources to continue closing the readiness gap. Through 2025, Kindergarten Readiness Camp provided more than 1,000 children in Ottawa County with a summer learning experience before their first day of school. And as literacy proficiency rates declined across Michigan, Reach Out and Read Michigan brought an evidence-based approach to delivering early literacy guidance in the pediatric exam room, where nearly every family with young children already goes.

What began as a local response to a local need now sits within a broader statewide shift. Leaders and advocates in this community helped make high-quality early education, including preschool for every four-year-old, the norm rather than the exception in Michigan. The Reach Out and Read Michigan affiliate was established in Holland and Zeeland, and it will keep growing. Handing it to a national organization is Ready for School's final act of stewardship, and the surest way to ensure what this community built thrives.

Your continued support of Reach Out and Read Michigan remains essential. Gifts and pledges already made to Ready for School for this program will be used as donors intended, serving families in the communities they were given to support. Beginning November 1, 2026, gifts should be made directly to Reach Out and Read, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization, and remain fully tax-deductible. Joining a national organization gives this work a larger platform and helps ensure it endures for Michigan children.

Questions are welcome. Please contact Heather Boswell at hboswell@readyforschool.org.

Thank you for your continued partnership, your investment, and your belief in the power of early literacy.

Sincerely,

Heather Boswell, Interim Executive Director
Tamela Mannes, Board Chair