Valley of the Sun United Way is proud to be part of many educational programs and initiatives focused on improving literacy skills and strengthening support for underserved schools and communities. The Literacy Hub at Lattie Coor School is one way United Way and its partners are meeting the community where they are to address inequities and needs.

Through Lattie Coor’s Literacy Hub, teachers can connect with families on a wholistic level to develop substantial relationships that translate to campus-wide success. Each quarter, Lattie Coor marks the beginning of a new literacy hub session with a family-oriented community event. These events connect families with additional resources for needs including health care and health literacy, financial literacy, educational resources and more.

Families see the Lattie Coor Literacy Hub as a place of belonging. While students receive additional academic support directly from their teachers, parents work in partnership with educators in the Literacy Hub to gain a better understanding—in their native languages—of the curriculum and skills their children are learning in the classroom. This family support offers coherence between home and school and allows families to understand that education doesn’t stop when the school bell rings but is a continuous and ongoing learning experience.

In addition to seeing more family connection and involvement with teachers and the school, the Literacy Hub can be directly tied to increased test scores.

"The Literacy Hub at Lattie Coor School offers parents a place of belonging, acceptance and cohesion that translates into a new understanding of the skills their children are learning in the classroom. This unity of classroom and home learning fosters an environment where parents can help their child succeed and teachers can set a higher standard of goals."
– Dr. Geovanni Orozco, principal at Lattie Coor School