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Low reading levels not linked to specific schools, says district

Figures were based on where schools where summer literacy support sessions were offered

The Langley school district and its trustees want to find out why reading levels are on the decline for students in Grade 1, 2 and 3 in Langley.

But the schools listed in the Jan. 6 Langley Times article aren’t necessarily the schools of concern.

Rather, they are the sites where summer sessions were held for literacy support.

At the December school board meeting, Superintendent Suzanne Hoffman’s presentation on literacy that showed the number of students that accessed Learning Support in Literacy listed Blacklock, Parkside, Richard Bulpitt and RC Garnett as elementary schools where literacy support was most needed.

Those are actually schools where summer sessions took place for literacy support, said school district communications manager Ken Hoff.

The students listed next to each of those schools are ‘district’ students who chose to attend summer session literacy support at that site.

“Theoretically, it may be that none of the students attending a summer session at Blacklock for literacy support (just an example) actually attend Blacklock,” said Hoff.

Overall, there were 407 SD35 students that attended one of the seven summer session school sites for literacy support.

There was a significant drop in reading level achievement in 2014 for Grade 1, 2, and 3 children district-wide. Trustees asked school district staff to find out why reading levels are in decline.



Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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