The Agency on Agings RSVP Volunteer Program

Provide support to students, in the area of literacy, to reach a new level in reading and academic confidence. Volunteers will be trained and supervised as they work with identified students, K through 3rd grade, in schools and community based programs.

The NHPS, and New Haven Reads are supportive of a community based volunteer program designed to provide tutoring to identified students, which will help students reach a new level in reading. Teachers, reading specialists and/or parents refer their students for support based on their reading proficiency and whether they are economically disadvantaged and/or have a disability. Students participate at least an hour a week during the school year.
Despite the benefits of these new advances, teachers and families will continue to become more burdened with attempting to keep up, this is where RSVP tutors will make the difference.

The RSVP program, working also closely with the Experience Corps program, looks to continue its relationship with New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) and literacy-oriented organizations like New Haven Reads as NHPS has adopted 2 new programs into its curriculum.
Beginning back in June of 2010 Connecticut adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) joining 45 other states. All of these states now share the same clear expectations for student learning in grades kindergarten through twelve. This allows for unprecedented collaboration between teachers, pooling of resources, and clarity about goals for student learning.
The Common Core is a set of learning standards designed to help students master the skills necessary to succeed in college, compete globally for the best jobs, and become our future leaders.
In New Haven, teachers and administrators have been working for the past several years to incorporate the necessary “shifts” in instructional practice required by the CCCS into our classrooms and curriculum.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment is the new test that will accompany the implementation of the Core Standards. Beginning in 2014-15 school year, they will be administering the actual Smarter Balanced Assessment to all students in grades 3-8 and 11.
The NHPS, and New Haven Reads are supportive of a community based volunteer program designed to provide tutoring to identified students, which will help students reach a new level in reading. Teachers, reading specialists and/or parents refer their students for support based on their reading proficiency and whether they are economically disadvantaged and/or have a disability. Students participate at least an hour a week during the school year.

The Agency on Aging's RSVP program accepts applications for volunteers year round. During the summer the program works with Experience Corp and The Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven to locate, orient and train volunteers for the upcoming school year. Contact Cherie Strucaly at clarson@aoascc.org with questions.

The Agency's RSVP program provides adults over 55 an opportunity to use their skills and experiences to help strengthen and improve their communities, assist the individuals that live in them and maintain a sense of value and purpose. RSVP is a federal funded program focused on recruiting individuals to volunteer with seniors, individuals with disabilities, children, Veterans and local/community municipalities/non-profits in the areas of: • Home visits for individuals through the Friendly Visitor program • Caregiver relief through the Respite Relief Support program • Mentoring/tutoring for children k-3 through the Community and School based Education program. • Financial organization and guidance through our Money Management support program • Benefits Exploration through the Benefits Check-up program • Community volunteerism to support local towns and non-profits maintain their ability to conduct business and meet their mission with the support of volunteers. All volunteers' complete applications, have reference and criminal background checks competed and participate in an orientation. RSVP staff spend time with each applicant to insure that they have appropriate expectations about volunteering, are truly interested in assisting others and willing to carry out the responsibilities in the program of their choice. Placement providers and individual placements are required to provide a safe, accessible, non-discriminating and supportive service activity environment.