Rochester Catholic Schools Announces Transformative Literacy Partnership with Best-In-Class Program, Believe and Read!
Discover Believe and Read!
Believe and Read Impact 2022 from CSCOE on Vimeo.
We are thrilled to announce an exciting new collaboration between Rochester Catholic Schools and best-in-class literacy initiative, Believe and Read, setting the stage for a game-changing journey towards academic excellence and a lifelong love for reading!
Did you know that in America today, 60 percent of students aren’t reading at grade level by third grade? Research shows, if students haven’t become fluent readers by the end of third grade, they will have trouble catching up.
At RCS, we are committed to a different narrative, one where every child reaches their full reading potential. That's why we have decided to actively participate in Believe and Read, ensuring that our students not only meet but exceed grade-level expectations.
To achieve this, our three elementary schools, Holy Spirit Catholic School, St. Francis of Assisi School, and St. Pius X School, are now three of the nearly 60 Catholic elementary schools across the state that will partner with a national literacy expert to help transform our literacy instruction through Believe and Read.
All students who participate in the program will benefit — struggling readers become proficient, and good readers become great ones! Assessment results comparing fall 2021 to winter 2022 progress show that 92.9% of Catholic school students using Believe and Read were above the average improvement rate in oral reading fluency, an essential indicator of growth.
“Academic excellence is a long-standing pillar of RCS. In the spring of 2022, 67% of our K-8 students were reading at or above grade level, which far surpasses their peers locally and nationally. Nevertheless, our aspirations reach even higher, aiming for nothing less than 100%!” said RCS President Annemarie Vega.
“This program will transform our schools and how we teach reading. Students of all reading levels will benefit. As a parent of an incoming kindergartener, I couldn’t be more excited!”
How Believe & Read works:
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LETRS Training for Teachers
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LETRS is a rigorous, research-based professional course of study to help educators master the content and principles of effective reading, language, and literacy instruction that will enable them to change reading outcomes that set students on a lifelong path to success.
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LETRS Training for Administrators
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LETRS for Administrators is a rigorous, research-based professional course of study specifically designed for school administrators to support instruction and to ensure increased reading outcomes for students.
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Core5 Reading
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Core5 Reading is a research-proven approach in which students of all levels work at their ability and pace to develop fundamental reading skills in an adaptive yet structured manner to advance phonological awareness, phonics, structural analysis, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension while providing critical data to differentiate instruction.
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Let's come together to share this transformative program with both our current and prospective families, empowering all to embark on a journey of literacy and learning excellence. Thank you for championing our efforts to provide the very best for our students!