Stronger Together: Fresno Families Leading on Literacy
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In 2025, we launched our Community-Led Committee (CLC) on Literacy in Fresno. The CLC brings together families, educators, and community leaders who are working collaboratively to advocate for stronger literacy outcomes and more meaningful school-family partnerships across Fresno.
During the fall and early winter, the committee focused on building a shared understanding of where literacy stands in Fresno Unified – celebrating progress while identifying opportunities to strengthen support for students and families.
Highlights of our work so far include:
- Reviewing recently released literacy outcomes data for FUSD.
- Learning from the West Contra Costa CLC’s successfully literacy campaign to inform our local strategy.
- Participating in the ”Everyday Family Literacy: Beyond Books” worksop to explore practical tools families can use at home.
- Deepening our CLC’s understanding of the new Reading Difficulties Risk Screener (RDRS), a K-2 early literacy tool designed to identify students who may need additional reading support as early as possible.
After thoughtful discussion, the CLC has chosen to focus its current advocacy on the RDRS and how families are meaningfully engaged in the process. Early identification matters, but so does clear communication and strong school-family partnerships.
We are gathering input from families about their experiences with the screener, meeting with district leaders to better understand the current implementation plan, and identifying next steps to ensure families feel informed, supported, and empowered in their child’s literacy journey.
If you believe every child deserves strong early reading support – and families deserve a clear seat at the table – we’d love to have you join us.
👉 Interested in joining the CLC? Complete our interest form at https://bit.ly/LiteracyCLC or email swilliams@gopublicschools.org to learn more.