Turning the Page on Literacy at SAS ES

Tuesday, May 27th, 2025: We’re on a mission to ensure every student reads on grade level by the end of second grade, and that 60 percent of our third graders are reading proficiently by 2028. 

To support this goal, we’ve implemented the Road to Reading program by Dr. Benita Blachman and Darlene Tangel in our K-4 classrooms. This research-based, structured literacy approach emphasizes decodable texts, which are books that are essential for students developing strong decoding and comprehension skills.

But we couldn’t do this alone. Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Jim and Julie Boeheim Foundation, we’ve been awarded a grant to help build our Road to Reading Decodable Libraries across our elementary schools!

This support allowed us to purchase $60,000 worth of Benchmark Education texts and backpacks for each student. This grant helps every kindergarten through 4th-grade student access texts aligned with our reading instruction. These libraries are vital for daily targeted instruction and long-term reading success.

We’re deeply grateful to the Boeheim Foundation for investing in our students’ futures and helping us close the literacy gap, especially for learners impacted by the pandemic. Together, we're opening the book to a brighter future in literacy!