BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – The Alabama Department of Education recognized Central Elementary School as a Science of Reading Spotlight School. The recognition highlights schools and systems that improve reading proficiency in students from kindergarten through third grade. They also ensure kids are reading at or above grade level by the third grade.
WBRC recently visited Central Elementary School during a summer program that included K-1st graders. Those kids were really excited about learning to be better readers. In the Fall of 2021, 15 percent of kindergarteners at Central Elementary School were proficient at reading according to a press release from Tuscaloosa City Schools. Less than a year later, that number jumped to more than 74 percent.
“Oh, it’s a big honor. It’s definitely something that we’re proud of. Being one of the few schools named a science of reading school is a very big honor. And it just let’s us now that our teachers are on board and doing exactly what they set out to do,” Dr. Dr. Jerry Collins, the school’s principal.
Some of the steps taken to improve reading scores at Central Elementary included using data to monitor individual student improvement at reading and more opportunities to teach reading through after-school tutoring and summer camps. Central Elementary School is one of just 12 statewide to get recognition as a Science of Reading Spotlight School in 2022.
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