More than 75,000 students will receive individualized literacy plans and take-home reading materials throughout the 2026-27 school year, with distribution beginning in November.

Organ Mountain News report

SANTA FE - More than 75,000 New Mexico students in kindergarten through third grade will receive more than 750,000 books in multiple languages during the 2026-27 school year as part of a new statewide initiative to support reading at home.

The New Mexico Public Education Department announced that school districts will begin distributing take-home literacy packs in November, accompanied by individualized family reading plans and student progress updates.

Teachers will use student assessments and reading progress information to prepare a family literacy plan for each K-3 student. Four times during the school year, families will receive an updated plan, information about their child's reading progress and a "Take-Everywhere Literacy Pack" containing structured literacy activities.

"Families want to know how their children are doing and what they can do to help," Public Education Secretary Mariana D. Padilla said. "The family literacy plans connect the information teachers share with books and activities families can use together. Reading at home should feel welcoming and possible for every family."

The literacy packs were developed by Just Right Reader, a company that produces reading materials and resources designed to support literacy development.

Each pack includes books selected to match students' developing reading skills, writing activities and video phonics lessons accessible through QR codes.

The video lessons will be available in English, Spanish and more than a dozen additional languages, allowing families to reinforce reading skills at home.

Just Right Reader, founded in 2019, develops materials aligned with the science of reading, an approach grounded in research on how children learn to read.

The initiative is part of New Mexico's implementation of the 2026 High-Quality Literacy Instruction Act, Senate Bill 37, which strengthens evidence-based reading instruction, student assessments, family engagement and targeted support for students learning to read.

The program is intended to give families regular information about their children's reading development, along with books and activities they can use outside the classroom.

Additional information is available through the Public Education Department's Read-at-Home Plans page.