Charles City School District receives grant to boost literacy program

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The school year has just started, but the Charles City Community School District is already looking forward to summer after receiving a state grant to support a summer literacy program.

The district was notified in July that Washington and Lincoln Elementary and the Middle School received a combined $45,000 to be used to help bring up student reading skills.

“The grant is to help increase literacy scores, but also help close the gap for students that aren’t at literacy level,” said Director of Academic Services Dr. Jennifer Schilling.

Much of the grant funds will be used to purchase licenses to the Imagine Learning curriculum, which creates individualized learning programs to help students who struggle with reading to improve their understanding.

“Imagine Learning focuses on your level of phonics,” said Schilling. “Some of the students are already using this program.”

The grant funds can also be used to fund professional development, transportation costs and food for summer students.

While the funds are coming from a Summer Reading Grant, the school plans to start using the Imagine Learning curriculum as soon as possible. Schilling says she anticipates being able to use the program to provide individualized learning to 70 students in the middle school, 130 in Lincoln and 50 in Washington.

“This will impact 250 students,” said Schilling. “We’re hoping to get it started at the end of September.”

The program can be used both in and out of school, with online functions that allow students to access it from home. In addition, the state is providing schools with access to an AI-based reading assistant from EPS Learning, which can listen to students as they read out loud, assess their reading skills and provide personalized feedback.

The Summer Reading Grant is one-time money for the district, but Schilling said she intends to pursue future grants to continue to bolster the district’s literacy resources.

“If there is more grant money we will definitely re-apply,” said Schilling.