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Park Avenue School students significantly increase reading scores

Park Avenue Elementary School in Danbury has seen a more than 10% increase in early reading scores, with a more than 30% increase among students involved in interventions by United Way of Western Connecticut.  For the past four years, United Way has spearheaded an effort to prepare Park Avenue students for early school success. 

 

Park Avenue is a Title I School, which means a high percentage of its children come from low-income families.  In the spring of 2016, 42% of Park Avenue Kindergarteners met the school district benchmark on the Early Literacy STAR assessment. By the spring of 2017, that number was up to 48%. For students whose families were involved in early learning programs, that number was 57%. 

 

The Pitney Bowes Foundation provides $7,500 to fund playgroups at Park Avenue for parents and children who are unable to attend a formal preschool. The playgroups help children with social skills, teach parents how to promote learning in the home, and screen children for developmental delays. 

 

The Park Avenue Initiative has also been supported by The Grossman Family Foundation, which helps to fund a bilingual school liaison, a community garden, and a Walking School Bus initiative. It also funds a summer skills program for children who have been identified as needing substantial help with skills before they enter kindergarten, as well as a nationally recognized program for Latino parents called Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors. 

 

More than 70% of the students receive free or reduced-price lunch, and almost 50% are English Language Learners. Because many students at Park Avenue come from economically challenged families and immigrant families, they are more likely to be affected by the achievement gap: the difference in academic performance between low-income and minority children and their more affluent peers.

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Brian Kilmeade

Local Headlines