our mission
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Our mission is to enable students in Trenton public elementary schools to read at grade level by 3rd grade. The Trenton Literacy Movement, Inc., (TTLM) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
why we are needed
Low literacy affects entire communities and Trenton is no exception.
From reading an early picture book all the way through, acquiring essential computer and communications technology skills, literacy is the key to a successful and independent life, and to a vibrant and sustainable city.
- 75% of students in Trenton public elementary schools in grades 1-3 are reading below grade level.
- Low literacy skills are a predictor of future poverty, a lifetime of limited opportunities and a potential fast track to incarceration.
why we are needed in Trenton
A City in Distress
- Roughly 28 percent of the Trenton’s 85,000 residents are economically disadvantaged. (Economically disadvantaged students are students who are eligible for free or reduced lunch.) This is almost twice the state average and 16 percent of households live on less than $10,000 annually.
- Nearly one-quarter of residents lack health care and violent crime is close to the highest in the state.
- Math proficiency among city students, 98 percent of whom are black or Hispanic, lingers in the single digits.
- Six of Trenton's 20 schools scored 10 or less on the state’s new 100-point evaluation system.
- America’s literacy crisis has reached epidemic proportions, with millions of children and adults affected each and every year by a never-ending cycle of educational disadvantage.
