FAQ
General
-
While we do not offer programs to individual students or in the hospital setting, and our opportunities for new school and library partnerships are very limited each year, feel free to email us at info@sitstayread.org to inquire about possible collaboration.
-
We currently only serve the city of Chicago. You can see the neighborhoods we have been in over the past year by viewing our program map on the volunteer page.
-
During summer 2025, we partnered with VOCEL and New Moms to provide programs for early childhood literacy. You can also find us at CPL branches throughout the city. View those visits and register through Chicago Public Library here.
-
While we love cats and animals of all types here at SitStayRead, all of our programming is built around the bond between people and dogs specifically.
-
All of the Certified Reading Assistance Dogs are owned by our skilled volunteer corps.
-
SitStayRead does not own any of the Certified Reading Assistance Dogs who volunteer in our programs, so you won’t find them here at our office. They dedicate their time to lending a listening ear to our students and helping us deliver meaningful programs.
-
Yes, we always love a donation of books to help build up our student’s home and school libraries! Please reach out to info@sitstayread.org if you are interested in a book donation to learn more about what titles are on our wishlist. Our students are in Kindergarten - 2nd grade and books with diverse characters, that celebrate bilingualism are always particularly appreciated.
-
SitStayRead programs are provided at no cost to the partner school or parents of the students. To ensure that our resources are going where they are most needed, it is important to us that schools seeking partnership with SitStayRead meet certain criteria. We look for new partner schools where the student population is at least 90% low-income, and where 60% of third graders are reading below grade-level. These criteria confirm that we are providing critical reading and writing help to those who are most in need. Please email info@sitstayread.org to inquire about potential partnership.
Volunteer
-
Visit our Volunteer page to more about our volunteer roles and to fill out our Volunteer Application!
-
No! We have many essential volunteer opportunities in the classroom for people without dogs. Our volunteers without dogs are called Book Buddies and we are always looking for more people to fill these roles!
-
We do have occasional need for support in our office - often this involves prep work for our classroom residency programs. If you are a current volunteer interested in this kind of opportunity, please reach out to volunteer@sitstayread.org to let Lexsie Hernández know your availability!
-
We have very limited evening or weekend opportunities. These are primarily available in the form of our CPL partner programs. Current volunteers can find these opportunities and sign up for them in the Bloomerang Volunteer app alongside classroom residencies. If you're interested in learning more about how to volunteer with us at festivals, fairs and family literacy events, let Lexsie Hernández know your availability by emailing volunteer@sitstayread.org
-
Due to our limited resources and small team, we are not able to provide transportation for every volunteer.
However, we have several volunteers with cars and are always happy to connect for carpool opportunities. If you are interested in volunteering and are concerned about getting to and from programs, please reach out to volunteer@sitstayread.org to inquire about carpool options.
-
All Certified Reading Assistance Dogs in our programs have been assessed by our Dog Team Evaluator, professional trainer Rendy Schuchat with Anything is Pawzible, and our Volunteer Program Manager via our Dog Team Test. All prospective Dog Team handlers must go through all necessary training before bringing their Certified Reading Assistance Dog into the classroom.
-
The Certified Reading Assistance Dogs in our programs have to have the right temperament and training for the environment that they will be in. The school and classroom environment can be stressful and overwhelming for dogs, so we look for dogs who can succeed in those circumstances, as well as active handlers who can help their dogs succeed. We also look for dogs with good recall skills, that enjoy being around children, that have great obedience skills, and that can be calm and settled around other dogs (although the dogs never socialize with other dogs during our programs, they need to be okay with being in the same environment).
The dogs that succeed best in the classroom are those who have a calm and ‘chill’ temperament, who don’t need a lot of attention from their handler during the session (as the handler will be interacting with students during each visit), and those who don’t get overstimulated by interactions with adults and children and loud noises.
To be considered for certification, the dog must be at least 1 year old. We do not have any breed or size restrictions. -
We require all dogs to be spayed/neutered and to be up-to-date on the following vaccines/tests:
Rabies Vaccination (1 or 3 year vaccination)
DHLPP (Distemper, Hepatitis [CAV-2], Leptospirosis, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus [combined canine vaccine]
Fecal (stool sample must show negative test result)
Bordatella Vaccine -
Although we use many animal-assisted therapy techniques in our programs, SitStayRead Certified Reading Assistance Dogs are not considered therapy dogs, and we are not a therapy dog program. Chicago Public School policy considers our dogs “Comfort Animals”.
If you're looking to get into therapy dog work, SitStayRead is a great stepping stone for you and your dog to get a sense of what therapy work involves! If you're looking for a great therapy dog organization in Chicago, we highly recommend our friends at Canine Therapy Corps!
