In Utah, in 2025, only:
met grade-level literacy expectations.
Approximately half of Utah students are progressing through the early grades without reaching expected reading proficiency. Utah currently serves more than 183,000 K–3 students statewide across 41 school districts and charter systems. The need is significant, but so is the opportunity for Utah’s business community to make a difference. Businesses of every size can help strengthen early literacy by connecting employees, resources and investments with students, schools and community organizations.
The Utah Community Builders Literacy Match is a centralized digital system that connects K–3 literacy needs in schools with philanthropic investments from businesses, foundations and community partners.
The system is built to:
The Literacy Match menu provides flexible, evidence-based opportunities for businesses and philanthropists to directly support literacy outcomes in Utah schools.
| Menu Item | What It Supports | Investment |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsor a Literacy Paraprofessional (3.9 hrs/day) | Funds a trained classroom paraprofessional or literacy tutor to provide small-group intervention, classroom support, targeted reading instruction and student engagement support. Often used for SIPPS* tutoring, classroom literacy assistance or behavior support tied to learning outcomes. | $13,000/year per classroom |
| Sponsor a Literacy Paraprofessional (5.9 hrs/day) | Expanded paraprofessional support allowing for increased intervention time, more student groups and stronger classroom literacy implementation. | $19,500/year per classroom |
| Full-Time Literacy Educator Support | Funds a certified educator, instructional coach, literacy interventionist or behavioral coach to support multiple classrooms or schools with literacy instruction and intervention implementation. | $80,000/year per FTE |
| Teacher Professional Development Substitute Coverage | Provides substitute teachers so classroom educators can attend literacy training and evidence-based instructional professional development during the school day. | $175 per half-day substitute |
| Sponsor Teach Literacy Training | Supports educator training in evidence-based literacy instruction, including Science of Reading-aligned practices and structured literacy interventions. | Custom pricing by district/school |
| Menu Item | What It Supports | Investment |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Partners Decodable Book Set | Provides structured phonics-based tutoring materials and decodable texts designed to help early readers practice sound patterns and foundational reading skills. | $100 per classroom set |
| Bob Books Classroom Set | Funds a complete SIPPS* literacy intervention package for targeted reading support. | $100-$500 per classroom |
| SIPPS* Intervention Package | Funds a certified educator, instructional coach, literacy interventionist or behavioral coach to support multiple classrooms or schools with literacy instruction and intervention implementation. | $1,050 per grade level/school |
| Decodable Text Classrooms Set | Provides classroom collections of decodable texts aligned to phonics instruction and structured literacy practices. | $1,500-$2,000 per grade level/school |
| Leveled Library for SIPPS* Rooms | Funds classroom libraries with strategically leveled books that reinforce reading practice at students’ instructional levels. | $500-$600 per classroom |
| Whole-School Decodable Text Library | Builds a comprehensive K–3 decodable text collection across an entire school to support consistent literacy instruction. | $10,000 per school |
| Strategic Literacy Library Expansion | Expands literacy resources and leveled libraries for schools with high literacy needs or limited access to instructional materials. | Approximately $15,000 per school |
| Keep the School Library Open in Summer | Supports summer library access, staffing and literacy engagement opportunities to reduce summer learning loss. | Approximately $1,000 per school |
| Menu Item | What It Supports | Investment |
|---|---|---|
| School Literacy Night Sponsor | Supports family literacy nights that connect schools and families through reading activities, parent education, take-home literacy resources, book access and community engagement. | $2,500-$4,000 per event |
| District Literacy Night Series Sponsor | Funds multiple literacy nights across schools or communities throughout the year. | $10,000+ annually |
| Summer Literacy Bridge Program | Supports targeted summer literacy intervention programs designed to reduce summer slide and strengthen transition into the next grade level, particularly from 2nd to 3rd grade. | Custom pricing by school/district |
| Summer Literacy Boot Camp | Funds short-term intensive literacy support for students significantly below grade level using evidence-based intervention approaches. | Custom pricing by district |
| Sponsor Student Tutoring & Tier II Intervention | Supports additional small-group or individualized literacy tutoring for struggling readers using evidence-based Tier II intervention models. | Custom pricing based on student count |
| After-School Literacy Intervention Programs | Provides structured literacy intervention opportunities beyond the school day for students needing additional reading support. | Custom pricing by school/program |
| Parent Literacy Engagement Programs | Supports workshops, literacy resources and family engagement efforts that help parents build reading habits and literacy support strategies at home. | Varies by program size |
| Menu | What It Supports | Investment |
|---|---|---|
| Adopt-a-Classroom Literacy Partnership | Allows businesses or donors to directly support the literacy needs of a specific classroom through staffing, books, intervention materials or programming. | Flexible giving level |
| Adopt-a-School Literacy Partnership | Supports a school-wide literacy improvement strategy based on identified student and educator needs. | Flexible giving level |
| Pilot School Literacy Initiative | Funds a targeted literacy pilot in selected schools to test scalable intervention and support strategies. | Custom investment |
| District Literacy Initiative Partnership | Supports large-scale literacy improvement efforts across multiple schools or an entire district. | Custom investment |
Literacy Match is a simple way for your organization to align its philanthropy with real, school-identified literacy needs across Utah.
Based on your responses, we will “match” your giving intent with K–3 literacy needs submitted directly by Utah’s elementary schools, ensuring your support goes to targeted, high-impact interventions with clear outcomes. In addition to giving you flexibility in how and where you choose to invest, participating schools will report back on how funds were used so you can see that every dollar was directed exactly where you intended.
Click the button below or contact info@utahcommunitybuilders.com to get started today.
“Every child who learns to read carries that gift forever. This is more than reading, this helps a child gain the confidence to raise their hand, read aloud and picture a bigger future. Literacy Match invites Utah’s business community into that moment for thousands of students, and our whole state shares in the reward.”