As many of you may be aware, the Governor and Indiana Department of Education released important information about 2nd and 3rd-grade students who do not demonstrate reading proficiency.

Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, schools will be required to offer summer school courses for students who are not reading proficient or are at risk of not being reading proficient as indicated by the “IRead” test. The IDOE expanded eligibility for funding for summer school courses, and St. John’s applied for this funding through an IDOE grant.

Additionally, schools will need to have a reading deficiency remediation plan (which St. John’s already has in place). However, it is now state law that any student who does not demonstrate reading proficiency by the summer following their third-grade year MUST be retained in the third grade until they do.  Our goal is that each third-grade student and many of our second-grade students will be able to demonstrate this proficiency when they take the IRead test in March.

St. John’s had a Summer Reading Camp from June 10th – 14th from 8:00 am to 10:30 am. The curriculum course was Reading and Literature for grades 2 and 3.  Specific topics taught were foundations and vocabulary, non-fiction, and literature.

St. John’s had 15 Reading Campers sign up and 13 attending throughout the week.  The Reading Instructors were Mrs. Brittany Netzer, our former 3rd Grade Teacher, and Mrs. Emilie Gross, our Reading Intervention Teacher.