Summer News / Fall Dates

Dear Families,

Thank goodness for snowballs, swimming pools and summer rain to cool us down! Over the past several weeks, we have truly appreciated working with your children on their summer reading and providing personalized support. It is always rewarding to witness their growth and excitement for learning. A highlight has been holding sessions with Mambo, our golden doodle, to encourage students to read over the summer. Kate offered these 30 minute sessions with some of her students (at no charge) and will continue to do so. Please let Kate you want to be on a waiting list for this.

We also wanted to share a project that made this summer especially meaningful. Thanks to the generosity of a remarkable local student, we brought nearly 150 pounds of books to Jamaica in late May as part of her social action initiative. We donated a substantial portion to the Newell High School Library—the same school where we helped launch the Newell Literacy Lab—and delivered many more books to a local primary school. Seeing the joy and gratitude from the children was unforgettable. Transporting such a large collection internationally came with its challenges, but it was a labor of love and well worth the effort. We are deeply grateful to this young lady and her family for their dedication and generosity. These books and materials are making a significant difference for students with very limited resources.

We are thrilled to share that the literacy rates at Newell High School in St. Elizabeth have been improving since the launch of the Literacy Lab we helped to open. Recent data shows significant progress, and it is incredibly rewarding to know our efforts—bringing assessment materials, curriculum, decodable readers, and helping to fund an air-conditioned classroom—are making a real difference. Many of these students are bright and eager to learn but face challenges reading and writing in English, as patois is their native language. The majority of them read at a second grade reading level or below. The resources and improved learning environment have opened new doors for them. We are currently working on creating low/ level high interest readers for these students with stories that would interest Jamaican teenagers. It has been a fun project. 

As a reminder, our family will be on vacation beginning August 8 and will return shortly after the new school year begins. Sessions will resume on August 21st. We will be emailing you in the next week (if we have not already) to confirm your weekly sessions. We are excited to start back with new and returning students to say the very least!

Wishing you a restful and joyful remainder of the summer—we look forward to seeing everyone again soon!