A LEAP of Faith
Since our inception, LEAP has served over 4,500 children through our free after-school and summer school programs. These programs originated as a non-sectarian outreach effort on behalf of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Tustin. The surrounding community joined forces with members of the church to ensure that economically disadvantaged and English Learner students had access to the additional support and educational resources they required for academic success. Due to the momentum and support our programs garnered over time, LEAP was able to secure a nonprofit 501(c)(3) status in 2008.
In September 2013, the Tustin Unified School District (TUSD) offered LEAP the opportunity to move our after-school program onsite at two Title I schools in the TUSD, making it possible for us to provide a more comprehensive approach. Having LEAP available onsite meant that we could work directly with our students’ teachers and provide targeted reading instruction that was tailored specifically to each child’s needs. At this juncture, we decided to revise our program and focus solely on growing our after-school LEAP Reading Intervention Program. In 2015, in recognition of the overwhelming success and effectiveness of our program, the TUSD provided partial funding support to enable LEAP to expand our services to an additional two Title I schools in the TUSD, increasing our reach—from 80 students to 128 students—at four Title I school sites.
In the midst of the 2020 pandemic, LEAP continued to serve TUSD students via online learning. In 2021, alongside TUSD, LEAP returned to in-person learning at all four of our Title I elementary school sites, expanding the program to serve 160 students annually.
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In the 2024-25 school year, the LEAP Reading Intervention Program not only expanded to two additional elementary school sites but also significantly increased the number of students served by partnering with Expanded Learning, TUSD's after-school program.
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The LEAP Reading Intervention Program currently serves up to 700 students across six Title I TUSD elementary school sites.
Our team of tutors, which is comprised of CA credentialed teachers, retired teachers, college students, and recent graduates, are trained with the latest research-based strategies that have been proven to help striving readers, particularly English Language Learners. Year after year, the impact of our LEAP Reading Intervention Program has been proven through the exceptional growth that our LEAP students make in pursuit of their grade-level reading goals.
We are extremely thankful for the steadfast community support that has enabled LEAP to accomplish so much, and has allowed us to offer our program completely free of charge to our students for over 25 years!
Founding Executive Director
Sally Parkin, a California credentialed teacher and Reading Specialist, was hired as the first Executive Director of LEAP in 2000. Mrs. Parkin worked tirelessly to develop a very specific curriculum that would address and meet the needs of struggling readers—especially English Learners. For 25 years, Mrs. Parkin was responsible for the entire program design and implementation of LEAP, in addition to the overall administrative, financial and reporting duties required of a nonprofit organization. Over the years, Mrs. Parkin has volunteered and supported many philanthropic causes including Junior League, PTO, the Foothill High School Education Fund, Orange County Philharmonic Society, and other local endeavors. However, her true passion rests in education. Mrs. Parkin's outstanding work at LEAP is a testament to her commitment to ensure that all students, despite their circumstances, are given the tools and strategies to succeed. ​
Executive Director
In 2025 LEAP welcomed a new Executive Director, Rebecca Klasky. Rebecca Klasky began her career working for several years with local nonprofit organizations in informal education. She then attended UC Irvine to receive her Master’s of Arts in Teaching and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. Mrs. Klasky taught at the elementary school level in Irvine Unified School District before joining the LEAP team in 2021. She has devoted her career to education, and to sparking a love of learning in the students she teaches. Rebecca Klasky serves as LEAP's Executive Director, with continued support from LEAP’s Founder, Sally Parkin.
LEAP Board of Directors
Chair: ​​​​​​​​​​Carol Hay​​​​​​​​​​ · Vice Chair, Administration: George Fague ​· ​Treasurer: Dennis Fischel · ​
Secretary, Communications Chair: Dr. William A. Hare · Director of Volunteers: Ann Nicholson ·â€‹
Member: Kathy Brittingham · Founding Director: Sally Parkin ·â€‹ Executive Director: Rebecca Klasky