Spring Branch ISD Featured News

Collaboration between SBISD educators, Region 4 and Foundation results in support for the Science of Reading

April 8, 2024 7:00 AM

Spring Branch ISD (SBISD) educators are thrilled to join forces with the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation and Region 4 in support of the Science of Reading In Action initiative, aimed at building the capacity of teachers in our area.

Thanks to a grant made possible by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, an initiative has been launched to offer professional development and resources to kindergarten and first-grade teachers across the Houston area. These resources include custom lesson guides, instructional strategies, and various other tools to help improve the quality of science of reading education.

The selection of SBISD to support this initiative reflects the high level of literacy instruction taking place in the district, and our educators will play an integral role in providing training and developing lessons as part of the effort.

"We thank the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation for its longstanding partnership to promote literacy and a love of reading in Spring Branch ISD. The Foundation’s collaboration through this grant to support our educators represents an even higher level of partnership as we aim for all students to read at or above grade level by third grade," said Annie Wolfe, SBISD Interim Associate Superintendent for Academics.

The initiative also aims to empower and engage students, inspiring them to discover the joy of reading through authentic literature.

With the 2019 Texas Legislature mandate to implement science of reading strategies in all kindergarten through third grade classrooms, this initiative takes on even greater importance.

The science of reading emphasizes phonics and the matching of sounds heard in spoken words with individual letters or groups of letters, and we eagerly anticipate the results of this important work.

For more information on Literacy in SBISD, families can visit our district literacy website.
Click here to learn more about this program on the Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation website.