About Joyful Readers

Joyful Readers is committed to helping Philadelphia students gain the literacy skills they need to become successful, confident, and yes…joyful readers! Every year, we recruit a racially, culturally, and generationally diverse cohort of AmeriCorps tutors who provide high-quality, research-based reading tutoring daily to K-3 students in Philadelphia schools. The service of our tutors ensures that students in systemically under-resourced schools gain the skills they need to succeed in school, at work, and in their daily lives.

What Youll Do

Joyful Readers tutors provide small group reading tutoring to students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. Our AmeriCorps tutors meet with 2 students at a time, making sure they can provide the attention students need to get caught up on critical reading skills.

Your service year starts September 1 with one month of full-time training alongside the other AmeriCorps tutors in your cohort. We dive deep into training you on how to build great relationships with students and teachers and become an effective tutor.

In late September, you will be placed in a Philadelphia elementary school until the end of May. Youll provide half-hour sessions of reading intervention to 10-11 pairs of students daily, 5 days per week. Every week, youll meet with your literacy coach to get feedback and support. Throughout the year, youll have opportunities to collaborate with staff at your school and connect with the Joyful Readers tutors and staff serving around the city.

The Joyful Readers team is there to make sure that your service year is successful and effective. Were here to support you as you help students learn to read!

Who You Are

Maybe youve just graduated from college, youve just retired, or youre ready for a career change. Maybe youre graduating high school and youre ready for a real-world challenge. Maybe youve always been interested in education, but you want a chance to get your feet wet before exploring a teaching career. Maybe you just want a way to make sure that students who need extra help in school can get it.

We think a lot of people have the potential to be great tutors.

To be eligible to serve with Joyful Readers you must:

• • Be available to serve full-time September 1 through May 28
  • Be able to blend, segment, and manipulate sounds within words
  • Enjoy helping kids in grades K-3
  • Be at least 18 years old by August 15, 2026
  • Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. Unfortunately, authorization to work in the U.S. is not sufficient and those with DACA status are not eligible at this time.
  • Have at least a high school diploma or GED
  • Have served no more than 3 terms in an AmeriCorps state or national program
  • Agree to complete a background check

Joyful Readers is an equal opportunity employer and our AmeriCorps program is open to all.