Grant Helps North Springs Students Improve Reading Skills

SANDY SPRINGS, GA — A $12,000 grant from The Sandy Springs Society has allowed more than 100 North Springs Charter High School Students improve their reading skills. The grant allows 130 ninth- and 11th-grade students to take part in TeenBiz, an online reading program tailored for the students.

“We’re excited about the possibility this individualized program offers our kids,” said Principal Scott Hanson. “The goal is to have every student be career and college ready and having a good reading foundation is essential for anything any student wants to do in the future. This program helps students experience success in their own way.”

After teachers receive training on the program, the students in late October also began using the initiative. They read nonfiction articles at one of five reading levels that were appropriate for each student. As each student improves upon their vocabulary and understanding, the program then gives the pupils more challenging material, so they can gradually improve their understanding of the articles.

The program is integrated into the Language Arts classes that all students take each year, and is designed to improve reading skills by at least one grade level, North Springs said.

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"We appreciate this grant from The Sandy Springs Society as a vital seed fund to launch and embed this program in our curriculum at North Springs," Hanson added. "We expect it to significantly help many students with this most important life skill. We’ll be assessing results for the first six weeks later in January."

This is the fifth grant The Sandy Springs Society has provided North Springs over the last five years. Previous awards were given for science testing equipment for all science classes, student response systems for all math classes, helping fund a music technology classroom and recording studio for music magnet students and after school programs, and teacher training in AVID strategies to help students improve focus, study skills, and academic performance.

Images via North Springs Charter High School