An amazing cohort of our teachers just completed their LETRS certification. We are so proud to share that 15 of our teachers completed their Language Essentials for Teaching Reading and Spelling, starting back in 2023. 

Instead of simply following a curriculum, this additional two-year, intensive training allows our team to truly understand how kids learn to read. The LETRS program provides the science behind learning to read, including evidence-based practice. Teachers worked during dedicated PD time and in their off hours, reading, learning more and testing to pass each key area. 

“By tracking longitudinal student data, grade by grade, kid by kid, we can see how well we’re serving each student and how that compares to industry standards and trends", shared Nouvel Academic Coach, Deb VanSumeren. "Having an elementary team with this training and certification is a difference maker for our community.” 

Thanks to grant dollars funding the training and support from our building leaders, this program has provided our educators with in-depth knowledge and tools they can use with any reading program, at any age. 

Kindergarten Teacher, Rebecca Miller, shared the following, “LETRS was a game changer for me as a kindergarten teacher. Prior to the start of the course, I was researching best practices in teaching reading, and I was discovering fantastic strategies based in the science of reading. When we started LETRS, everything I had been reading about was presented and backed by research. That was all I needed! I’ve grown tremendously as a teacher of reading and writing over the past two years and am so passionate about helping all of my students achieve a solid foundation in literacy. I know my colleagues all share that same fire for teaching our students and I’m excited for the benefits our students will gain as a result of LETRS.”

Our work is only beginning but we wanted to take a moment to celebrate this milestone that highlights the hard work that they have done and the important work that they will continue! 

Congratulations to:

• Mary Albers
  

• Sarah Collison

• Katie Gaeth

• Traci Jaime

• Jordan Krukowski

• Mary Lepczyk

• Morgan Leuenberger

• Jennifer Maher

• Elizabeth Malott 

• Rebecca Miller

• Amanda Montini

• Anna Reyes

• Annette Rivet 

• Andrea Tata

• Sara Vance