Tangipahoa Board, nonprofit to begin literacy programs
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AMITE — The Tangipahoa Parish School Board approved on Tuesday a letter of intent to work with an international nonprofit that would pay for literacy programs at two struggling public elementary schools.
Save the Children will assist Roseland and O.W. Dillion elementary schools with after-school programs that start in May and continue next year and a summer literacy program, said Melissa Stilley, chief academic officer for the public school system.
A nonprofit based out of Westport, Conn., Save the Children has sponsors that include the “American Idol” TV program and major U.S. companies, such as Cisco Systems, and has focused its dollars in the nation on attacking rural poverty and working to improve literacy.
Schools officials didn’t disclose the grant amount, but Stilley said the programs would offer bus transportation and snacks and materials the school system can keep after the grant program is over.
O.W. Dillion and Roseland, which have pre-kindergartners to sixth-graders, have been among the lower-performing schools in the parish under state accountability.
Chief Financial Officer Ron Caruso said after the meeting that the letter of intent allows the School Board to start bidding on materials for the programs.
He said the grant pays 100 percent of the cost through reimbursement.
Superintendent Mark Kolwe told the board parents in the communities had asked for after-school programs and that the new grant program shows the school system is listening to the community.
The board also recognized Tuesday five schools for their academic growth under state accountability last school year.
The schools’ academic improvement ranged from 10.1-point to 4.6-point gains in their school performance scores and garnered a total of more than $80,300 in reward money from the state, school officials said.
The schools are Independence Elementary, Woodland Park Early Learning Center, Hammond Eastside Primary, Tucker Elementary and D.C. Reeves Elementary.
The board also approved new reading and literature textbooks after a school system committee of parents and teachers vetted proposals.
Winners were Harcourt School Publishers’ StoryTown program for kindergartners to sixth-graders and Holt, Rinehart and Winston’s Elements of Literature for seventh- to 12th-graders, said Danny Williams, director of curriculum and instruction.
Save the Children will assist Roseland and O.W. Dillion elementary schools with after-school programs that start in May and continue next year and a summer literacy program, said Melissa Stilley, chief academic officer for the public school system.
A nonprofit based out of Westport, Conn., Save the Children has sponsors that include the “American Idol” TV program and major U.S. companies, such as Cisco Systems, and has focused its dollars in the nation on attacking rural poverty and working to improve literacy.
Schools officials didn’t disclose the grant amount, but Stilley said the programs would offer bus transportation and snacks and materials the school system can keep after the grant program is over.
O.W. Dillion and Roseland, which have pre-kindergartners to sixth-graders, have been among the lower-performing schools in the parish under state accountability.
Chief Financial Officer Ron Caruso said after the meeting that the letter of intent allows the School Board to start bidding on materials for the programs.
He said the grant pays 100 percent of the cost through reimbursement.
Superintendent Mark Kolwe told the board parents in the communities had asked for after-school programs and that the new grant program shows the school system is listening to the community.
The board also recognized Tuesday five schools for their academic growth under state accountability last school year.
The schools’ academic improvement ranged from 10.1-point to 4.6-point gains in their school performance scores and garnered a total of more than $80,300 in reward money from the state, school officials said.
The schools are Independence Elementary, Woodland Park Early Learning Center, Hammond Eastside Primary, Tucker Elementary and D.C. Reeves Elementary.
The board also approved new reading and literature textbooks after a school system committee of parents and teachers vetted proposals.
Winners were Harcourt School Publishers’ StoryTown program for kindergartners to sixth-graders and Holt, Rinehart and Winston’s Elements of Literature for seventh- to 12th-graders, said Danny Williams, director of curriculum and instruction.
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