At Greywolf Elementary, we are cognizant of the great privilege and responsibility that comes with being the foundational school of the Sequim School District. Children learn so many important life skills. Such as how to get along with others, solve problems, collaborate with a team, and, of course, learn academics. At our K-2 level, reading is the most essential academic skill as it is required to access all other learning, and we know the quality of our reading instruction is critical.

Our Assistant Principal, Tami Ota, has decades of experience in teaching and supporting teachers in the instruction of reading. In her career as an educator, she has taught students to read, taught teacher candidates at the college level how to teach reading, and even worked as a consultant with school districts across the country for more than ten years to improve the quality of reading instruction. We are so fortunate to have this caliber of support and knowledge in our school.

Over the past month, all classroom teachers, special education teachers, and even paraeducators who provide reading instruction to students attended full-day reading trainings with Ms. Ota. This time was incredibly valuable as staff took a deep dive into the science of teaching reading and the most effective ways to use our reading intervention curriculum. These collaborative sessions resulted in staff being even better prepared to support students and sparked in-depth conversations about how our building schedules can better support struggling readers.

The results of this shared focus are already showing up in our student data. Our kindergarten students have increased their reading proficiency by 14 percent from fall to winter. First-grade midyear reading data show students already achieving 6 percent higher than last year’s first-grade end-of-year results. Second-grade midyear reading data show students already achieving 5 percent higher than last year’s second-grade end-of-year achievement. As we review midyear growth and head into the second semester of the school year, our shared focus, professional learning, and collaboration will continue to benefit every Greywolf student learning to read.