Countless hours of extra work on reading and writing have paid off at Bel Pre Elementary School in Layhill, which last week won a national award for its all-school, intensive reading program.

The State of Maryland International Reading Association Council chose the pre-kindergarten through second-grade primary school for its 1997 Exemplary Reading Program Award, which will be presented in Towson March 20.

The school is among 25 winners nationwide, which were chosen by their state associations then judged on a national level.

Bel Pre Principal Margaret Yates was elated with the news of national recognition for the school's Making All Readers Successful program, which regroups students daily to work on reading with peers of similar skill levels and learning patterns.

"This is so exciting because we all worked so hard -- the children, the teachers, the instructional assistants," Yates said. "As a principal, I feel so good about this program because I know every one of our students is going to learn to read."

A large component of the program is teacher training and teamwork, Yates said.

Since teachers work with students from several different classrooms each day during the reading groups, they work together to compare notes on individual students and offer suggestions.

"At most schools, each classroom teacher is responsible for teaching reading to their own students, no matter what their level," Yates said. "Instead, our students work for one hour each day in groups of like learners ... with different teachers and reading specialists."

"It's usually four kids to an adult and the groups are flexible," she added. "Every two weeks, we look at regrouping to make sure each child is where he or she should be."

The school's reading specialists meet every Tuesday after school with first- and second-grade teachers to present literacy training and discuss the cases of particular students.

Teachers also keep running records of each student's progress, tracking words or concepts they are struggling with and keeping a spreadsheet of their progress throughout the year.

For students who need extra help, instructional assistants meet with them daily.

"We really see progress when we're able to see them one-on-one daily," Yates said. "We really feel like we're nipping it in the bud."

Parents who need extra reading help are invited each month to a Books and Breakfast program, where Bel Pre reading teachers present tips and strategies for parents to help students at home.

Activities in all subjects have a focus on reading, Yates said, and fun activities such as having students read stories to the school's mascot, Happy, a stuffed panda larger than most of the students, keep students interested.

The school even has its own postal system, where students can send letters to friends and teachers through a large wooden mailbox in the school's lobby. Hallways in the school are labeled with such addresses as Book Worm Boulevard, Alphabet Alley and Curiosity Court.

"Reading is infused in every part of life here at Bel Pre. It's not a separate entity," she said.

Carol Gretkowski, the reading resource teacher at Bel Pre for 20 years, said the emphasis on reading and writing begins with the school's 4-year-old pre-kindergarten students.

"We read and write even if we can't," Gretkowski said.

According to Yates, Bel Pre receives visitors from schools throughout the state, who have come for years to observe the reading program.

When judges for the award came through Bel Pre last fall, she said, "someone said to Carol, 'If a child can't learn to read here, they're never going to learn to read.' "