MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Senatobia Elementary School in north Mississippi received a special honor Tuesday. The school was honored by the Mississippi Board of Education as an Emerging Science of Reading School.
“In a nutshell, what it is, is they have changed their instructional practices to be in alignment with the science of reading,” said Kristen Wynn, State Literacy Director for Mississippi.
Many of the schools’ teachers were certified in a program called Letters Training, about how to teach reading.
“The award is built off the teachers’ commitment to actually being certified. So, we are getting this award because of the number of teachers who have gotten certified in Letters Training,” said Chris Fleming, Superintendent of Senatobia Schools.
Tuesday, the school held an assembly for its almost 900 students, celebrating the award.
“We were able to celebrate this opportunity our teachers have taken to learn the best method to teach students how to read. And it was really exciting to see our students be so excited to see their teachers receive this honor,” said Fleming.
“Their reading scores have improved tremendously,” said Wynn. “They have created this culture of explicit teaching of reading skills.”
“The scores are a byproduct of the training in the long run,” said Fleming.
Only seven schools in the state of Mississippi were chosen for this award.
“We are excited about the skill set the teachers are taking into the classroom and the growth that’s going to show,” said Fleming. “The teachers know they did the work but the banner is an outward recognition of, ‘Hey, we’ve received this. We’ve been accepted into this group and this is an honor for what we’ve accomplished.’ But it lets the students know, ‘Hey, that’s the work our teachers have done.’”
RELATED: How Tennessee colleges & universities can take part in the College Voter Registration Competition