The Reading Partnership is helping the community, but we can’t and don’t do it alone.

Our project serves the Kingston-Galloway-Orton Park (KGO) area. While we do not have one central office, we partner with several groups in the community who share their spaces to host our programs.

KGO is a thriving and diverse neighbourhood in Scarborough, Ontario. However, it has some deep-rooted issues that keep the community from reaching its full potential.

KGO has the highest concentration of subsidized housing in all of Ontario
One-third of all families with children are lone-parent families
The unemployment rate in the KGO community is 12% compared to 8.2% in the rest of Toronto
15% of residents have not completed secondary (high) school, which is 5% higher than the Toronto average

39% of KGO kids (0-17 years old) live at or below the poverty line, compared to 26% across the city of Toronto
39% of Grade 3 student and 33% of grade 6 Students are NOT reading at their grade level compared to 26%(Grade 3) and 19%(Grade 6 ) across Ontario (2018 EQAO results)
Worse, only 20% of KGO high school students in applied streams, and 64% of students in academic streams successfully pass the Grade 10 Literacy Test, compared to 44% (applied stream) and 84% (academic stream) who pass across the province

Focusing on early literacy is the only way to bridge the gap and make sure that all children have an equal opportunity for academic and life-long success.

KGO Literacy Improvement Collective (KLIC)

In 2015, The Reading Partnership, along with parents, teachers, and other community groups came together to create the KGO Literacy Improvement Collective (KLIC).

KLIC meets to work on designing a community-wide literacy improvement strategy that tackles larger literacy issues in the KGO area and drives real and lasting change. While each organization has its own mandate, they all share a common vision for KGO – one where children and families have the resources and support they need to live up to their full potential.

If you would like to know more or get involved in KLIC, please get in touch here.

Literacy Now!
Research Project

To increase literacy in KGO and address longstanding concerns, The Reading Partnership, on behalf of the KLIC, commissioned a researcher to:

Capture a current and useful KGO literacy profile

Look at literacy service assets and where there are gaps in programs and services

Look at which models have successfully been used by other communities and how these models can be applied to improve literacy in KGO

Deliver a set of recommendations for literacy initiatives that align with the long-term vision of the KLIC

Deliver a full report and infographic that the KLIC could share with funders, community members and stakeholders

The report was funded by a grant from the Laidlaw Foundation and involved:

Interviews with 25 people who live or work in KGO
Four focus groups with 20 members of the community-wide
Two community forums which attracted over 200 participants

The outcome of the research was the Literacy Now! Report and Booklet which highlights 6 challenges when it comes to literacy in the KGO community and made several recommendations for the KLIC to work on.