Renaissance, the global leader in pre-K–12 education technology, is honored to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the community reading initiative Read on myON, a first-of-its-kind partnership between Renaissance and Hillsborough County Public Schools. A community open house commemorating the milestone, and honoring the partnership, will be held from 3–6 PM on Thursday, February 10, at the Kaminis Platt Regional Public Library, located at 3910 S. Manhattan Ave. in Tampa, FL.
Designed to promote equity and eliminate accessibility gaps in access to high quality books regardless of a student’s socioeconomic status or attendance in a particular school, Read on myON was made possible by an entire community of partners, including Hillsborough County Public Schools, The Children’s Board of Hillsborough County, Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County, Head Start of Hillsborough County, Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative, Tampa Housing Authority, Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA, and United Way Suncoast.
Over the 10 years of the Read on myON collaboration, hundreds of thousands of children from birth through 8th grade have had free access to the myON platform. Thirty-nine percent of the books children access through the program are opened for the first time outside of school hours, and books have been accessed over 71,718,216 times since the inception of the program in 2012, equating to over 336 million minutes spent reading.
“Read on myON continues to cultivate a love of literacy for thousands of students in Hillsborough County Public Schools. This incredible program is a testament to what our community partners can achieve when we come together collectively for our children. We are deeply appreciative of the lasting support from Renaissance as we continue the quest to close achievement gaps while providing innovative experiences for all learners,” said Superintendent Addison Davis.
Ten years into the partnership, Read on myON is still playing a central part in Hillsborough’s literacy initiatives in the 2021–2022 school year. In addition to supporting teachers and curriculum
staff, myON serves as a historical resource offering students a variety of books to encourage and build the love of reading. Throughout the ten years, this community-wide partnership has:
● Supported all major sports teams through community reading challenges
● Supported the annual Black History Month Digital Read-In
● Hosted seasonal reading challenges
● Increased engagement with early childhood initiatives by supplementing core curriculum, creating specific reading challenges, and collaborating with Hillsborough board member Dr. Stacy Hahn on early childhood literacy fairs
● Developed projects to support “STEMtober”
● Offered parent support by partnering with community agencies and neighborhood schools
“It’s been an honor to work with Hillsborough County and their many dedicated partners for the last decade,” said Todd Brekhus, chief product officer at Renaissance. “Together, they have built a literacy ecosystem that serves as a flagship to districts across the country, demonstrating what a community can achieve when it comes together for a common purpose. We look forward to continuing to support them for many years to come.”
About Renaissance
As a global leader in assessment, reading, and math solutions for pre-K–12 schools and districts, Renaissance is committed to providing educators with insights and resources to accelerate growth and help all students build a strong foundation for success. Renaissance solutions reach more than 40% of US schools and more than a half million students in other regions across the world. The Renaissance portfolio includes Star Assessments, for reliable, accurate insights into K–12 student learning; myIGDIs, for accurate assessment of early learning; myON, to increase students’ access to high-quality reading materials; Accelerated Reader, to support independent reading practice; Freckle, for teacher-led differentiated instruction; Schoolzilla, to give educators actionable insights into trends in student attendance and achievement; Lalilo, to develop critical foundational skills; and Nearpod, for teacher-facilitated instructional delivery. For more information, visit Renaissance.com.
About Hillsborough Schools
Hillsborough County Public Schools is America’s seventh largest school district and the largest in central Florida. We have more than 230 public schools, 24,000+ employees and 217,000+ students. Hillsborough Schools is proudly celebrating the highest graduation rate in our district’s history: 89.2% in the 2020–2021 school year. All twenty-seven of our high schools were recently listed in the US News and World Report Best High Schools ranking report. Hillsborough Schools boasts the
2020 #1 Elementary Magnet School of the Year—MacFarlane Park Elementary, the Florida Teacher of the Year, Dr. Dakeyan Graham of King High, and the Presidential Award of Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching Winner, Tiffany Oliver of Robinson High. See our website at hillsboroughschools.org for more information.
