Reading plan considered model for other schools

by Frank Curreri

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Staff Writer

Representatives from Bel Pre Elementary School gave a presentation of the school's award-winning reading program Sept. 16 at a meeting of educators and other literacy experts at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

According to a Montgomery County Public Schools press release, Margaret Yates, Bel Pre's principal, gave the presentation, along with reading specialist Carol Gretkowski and resource teacher Beverly Belin.

As winner of the 1997 International Reading Program Association's Exemplary Reading Program, Bel Pre is considered a model for teaching reading to students in kindergarten through second grade, the release stated.

"I think what distinguishes us from some other programs was the way that we planned for instruction, and that it was a total system," said Yates, who has been the school's principal since 1990.

"And we have ongoing assessment. We've been monitoring our data for over several years ... and can really see the kinds of progress our children are making."

Bel Pre is also one of 54 schools in Montgomery County to implement a new reading initiative this year, which features smaller class sizes and more time devoted to reading instruction.

The new countywide program allows for a 15-to-1 student-teacher ratio and 90 minutes of daily reading instruction as opposed to only 60 minutes in previous years, the release stated.

Yates said she expects the county's new reading program to complement and improve Bel Pre's already existing reading system.

Susan Clewell, the reading and language arts coordinator for Montgomery County schools, said Bel Pre's top-notch reading program emphasizes phonics, matching books with a student's reading level and phonemics-awareness, which is focused on teaching kids the ability to blend sounds.

Yates said Bel Pre places students in reading groups with other students who read at the same level.