After School Reading Clinic Proposed at Hollywood Elementary – Public Hearing is Tomorrow

Hollywood Elementary School

Tomorrow at 7 pm, the Prince George’s County School Board will hold its annual budget hearing.

The Board will take public testimonies about a new reading program, which is currently proposed to be piloted at the Hollywood Elementary School for the upcoming school year (September 2023-June 2024)

According to the proposal, the University of Maryland Institute for Literacy and Equity (MILE) will offer an afterschool reading clinic at Hollywood Elementary School in Prince George’s County that will address three critical needs in PGPCS:

1. Address teacher shortage by building a pipeline from educator preparation programs at UMD, Howard, Bowie, and PGCPS Community College;
2. Build high-quality science of reading instruction delivered onsite by trained tutors, para-educators and teachers; and
3. Create a Residency Model by delivering nationally accredited science of reading training and coaching to PGCPS teachers, tutors and para-educators, thereby building the capacity of both pre-service and in-service reading specialists within PGCPS.

The Project will:
● Establish PGCPS as the first LEA to partner with the Maryland Institute for Literacy and Equity at the University of Maryland;
● Train current PGCPS teachers in grades k- 5 teachers in science-based reading programs;
● Recruit and retain highly trained tutors from UMD/Bowie/Howard/PG community college programs to deliver SOR high-dosage tutoring and small group instruction;
● Build a pathway for SOR certification for PGCPS teachers, special educators and para-educators;
● Provide research from MILE to help demonstrate the success of the pilot and a roadmap to replicate success throughout the district, including middle and high school programs; and
● Create opportunities to train parents and other care providers to re-teach concepts to their children.

You can submit written or video testimony to this email: testimony@pgcps.org.