Who We Serve

Our students come from all over the borough --- some from schools in close proximity to our Boerum Hill and Bed-Stuy spaces and others from neighborhoods as far away as the Bronx, Williamsburg, Crown Heights, Red Hook, Brownsville, Flatbush, and Coney Island.

READ 718 welcomes and serves children from low-income families in grades 1-8 from anywhere in New York City, though almost all of our students live in Brooklyn. All of our students have shown that they are reading below grade level based on state ELA exams, report cards, and our own intake reading assessment. We welcome children of all races and ethnicities, of all genders and sexual orientations, and all physical abilities. We welcome multilingual children and families, although all instruction is in English.

100% of the children who attend our program are from low-income or very low-income families based on their eligibility for government assistance, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Medicaid. If a family does not receive government assistance but their income is 80% or less of the New York City AMI (area median income), they are eligible for our program. In any given session, roughly 50% of our students are first generation Americans and 100% are people of color. Specifically, 55% of our students are Black or African American, 36% are Hispanic or Latinx, 5% are Arab American, and 3% are Asian American. Approximately 50% of our students have IEPs (Individualized Education Plans), indicating a learning disability.