The FAO Schwarz Fellowship Reading Partners
New York City, New York
Reading Partnersโ mission is to help children become lifelong readers by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction with measurable results.
About the Fellowship Positions
This year, Reading Partners will host two Fellowships. The Direct Service work is the same for both. The Strategic Project components are unique.
Interested candidates may apply to one or both of these positions.
FAO Schwarz Fellow (Community Engagement)
The FAO Schwarz Fellow will serve as a valuable member of the community engagement team, playing a key role in supporting the successful recruitment and engagement of multi-hour volunteer partnerships, which provide over 20% of tutoring sessions annually.ย
Direct Service
The FAO Schwarz Fellow will serve as a tutor, providing one-on-one instruction to students in grades K-4. The Fellow will support real changes in student achievement that are measurable over time. The Fellow will:
- Be matched with 5 students/week (approximately 10 throughout the year) in grades K-4. Provide each student with whom they are matched with 45 minute sessions twice per week using Reading Partners easy-to-use curriculum.
- Have the opportunity to attend tutor training sessions and engagement events.
- Assist with Beginning, Midyear and End of Year Assessments.
Strategic Project
The FAO Schwarz Fellow will serve as a valuable member of the community engagement team, playing a key role in supporting the successful recruitment and engagement of multi-hour volunteer partnerships, which provide over 20% of tutoring sessions annually. The Fellow will work in partnership with members of the community engagement and program teams.
The Fellow will have increased ownership of these activities as the Fellow progresses from year 1 to year 2. ย The Fellow will:
- Liaise with external multi-hour volunteer program stakeholders, managing all partnership logistics, including recruitment or renewal of partners and ongoing communications.
- Interview, onboard and support the hiring of all multi-hour volunteers.
- Work in partnership with the program team to match multi-hour volunteers with students based on their provided availability and required hours and the tutoring center schedule.
- The Fellow may be asked to present on their project as their expertise advances.
FAO Schwarz Fellow (Powered By Reading Partnersโ)
The FAO Schwarz Fellow will serve as a tutor, providing one-on-one instruction to students in grades K-4 for their direct service work, and serve as a valuable member of the program team, playing a key role in supporting the Powered by Reading Partners program model management for their strategic project work.
Direct Service
The FAO Schwarz Fellow will serve as a tutor, providing one-on-one instruction to students in grades K-4. The Fellow will support real changes in student achievement that are measurable over time. The Fellow will:
- Be matched with 5 students/week (approximately 10 throughout the year) in grades K-4. Provide each student with whom they are matched with 45 minute sessions twice per week using Reading Partners easy-to-use curriculum.
- Have the opportunity to attend tutor training sessions and engagement events.
- Assist with Beginning, Midyear and End of Year Assessments.
Strategic Project
The FAO Schwarz Fellow will serve as a valuable member of the program team, playing a key role in supporting the Powered by Reading Partners program model management in New York City. They will work in partnership with members of the program team to manage all research and communications responsibilities, and create and co-facilitate training and coaching sessions. The Fellow will have increased ownership of these activities as the Fellow progresses from year 1 to year 2. ย The Fellow will:
- Be responsible for operational tasks associated with the Powered By model, including prospective partnership research and outreach.
- Create a scope and sequence of start-up and ongoing training and coaching sessions.
- Work with partners to customize and schedule their individualized training and coaching calendar.
- Co-facilitate training and coaching sessions for formal Powered partners.
- The Fellow may be asked to present on their project as their expertise advances.
LOCATION: New York City, NY
WEBSITE: readingpartners.org
FOUNDED: 1999
STAFF: 16
Applications open November 1, 2025.
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants must be college seniors at accredited four-year colleges or universities at the time of application and be eligible to work in the United States for the duration of the two-year Fellowship.
You may apply for more than one Fellowship. Consider the details of each Fellowship described below when you begin your application.ย
For more about what we are seeking, visit the application overview at this link.
The deadline to apply is February 1, 2026, at 9:00 pm ET. Host organizations will select applicants for interviews and make their decisions by the end of April 2026. Fellowships begin in the summer of 2026.
Learn more about Reading Partners by visiting their website.
A Closer Look
About Reading Partners
ABOUT US
Reading Partners is a national nonprofit organization, founded in 1999, that serves over 7,000 students across the country each year. Reading Partners has been a part of the New York educational landscape since 2011, when we first began placing community volunteers in public schools to help kids master basic reading skills. In the 2024-25 school year, Reading Partners New York City (RPNYC) enrolled 1,336 students across 23 reading centers.ย
Reading Partners provides an innovative, effective, and community-based literacy solution.
As a rigorous, nationally recognized Tier 2 reading intervention backed by gold-standard research, Reading Partners helps systematically disadvantaged students develop critical literacy skills through one-on-one literacy tutoring led by trained volunteers.
Volunteers follow our research-based curriculum that is based on the science of reading. Student-tutor pairs work for 45 minutes twice per week, using an individualized reading plan alongside ongoing student skill assessments.
Our program helps young readers develop mastery of foundational reading skills appropriate for their grade level and helps students improve their rate of literacy-skill development.ย
Impact
Our Impact
Reading Partnersโ overarching goal is to help close the reading achievement gap by producing measurable improvement in reading skills. In the 2025-26 school year, our students will achieve the following:ย
- 80% of all Reading Partners students will meet or exceed their primary, individualized end-of-year literacy growth goal
- 85% of all K-2 students will develop mastery of grade-appropriate foundational literacy skills, putting them on track to read at or above grade level by the end of 3rd grade
- 70% of 3rd and 4th-grade students will demonstrate growth in reading scores compared to a national group of peer students in the same grade
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We are proud to share our student performance results from 2024-2025:
- Student enrollment: 1,337 (103% toward goal of 1,300)
- Sessions delivered: 32,995 (110% toward goal of 30,000)
- Volunteer tutors: 1,369
- Returning tutors: 548 (124% toward goal of 442)
- New tutor sign-ups: 3,407 (103% toward goal of 3,293)
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Performance results
- 85% of all Reading Partners students met or exceeded their primary, individualized end-of-year literacy growth goal
- 91% of all K-2 students developed mastery of grade-appropriate foundational literacy skills, putting them on track to read at or above grade level by the end of 3rd grade
- 74% of 3rd and 4th-grade students demonstrated growth in reading scores compared to a national group of peer students in the same gradeย
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Policies
COVID/HEALTH POLICY
Reading Partners will take proactive steps to protect the workplace in the event of an infectious disease outbreak.
It is the goal of the Organization during any such time period to strive to operate effectively and ensure that all essential services are continuously provided and that employees are safe within the workplace.
Reading Partners is committed to providing complete and timely information about the nature and transmission of infectious diseases, including symptoms and signs to watch for, as well as required steps to be taken in the event of an illness or outbreak. A committee will be designated to monitor and coordinate events around an infectious disease outbreak, as well as to create work rules that could be implemented to promote safety through infection control. In the event of an infectious disease outbreak, policies and related procedures enacted by the committee in response to the outbreak replace and supersede any other Organization policies and procedures on the following topics.
It is understood that the policies herein are subject to change upon directives from Local, County, State and/or Federal agencies.
NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY
Reading Partners is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit and business needs.
Our Company is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and does not unlawfully discriminate against, nor does it tolerate unlawful harassment by any person, including, but not limited to, co-workers, managers, and third parties, on the basis of race, religion (including, but not necessarily limited to, creed, dress, and grooming practices), color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy (including breast feeding and related medical conditions), national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, military and veteran status, age (40 and older), genetic information, mental or physical disability, taking or requesting statutorily protected leave, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws.
In addition, the Organization will not discriminate against (or harass) employees based on any other category protected by applicable law.
The Organization also prohibits discrimination and harassment based on the perception that anyone falls within one of these protected categories or is associated with a person who is or is perceived to be in one of these protected categories. These prohibitions apply in the workplace, on business trips, during business meetings, at business-related social events, and at any other location where a Company-sponsored event takes place.
Compensation & Benefits
COMPENSATION
Fellows who start their Fellowship during the summer of 2026 will receive total compensation of approximately $110,000 (Boston & New York) plus benefits over the two-year Fellowship.
- $52,000 in year one (includes $2,000 start of Fellowship bonus)
- $58,000 in year two (includes $3,000 end of Fellowship bonus)
- ย Entry-level benefits from the host organization
- Professional development & leadership training
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BENEFITS
- Health insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- Paid time off
- Paid sick leave
- Retirement plan
- Retirement match
For general questions about compensation, please see the Fellowship FAQ.ย
Typical Work Schedule
Reading Partners staff utilize a hybrid working schedule. Typically staff are in our office at 75 Broad Street 3-4 days a week, and work remotely 1-2 days a week. Given that the Fellows will also report to partner schools for tutoring, the schedule will be determined in partnership with your manager.
We will work with the Fellow to build a schedule that provides at least one work-from-home day, which is most often Fridays, but will be subject to the scheduled tutoring for the Fellow.