This year, the Huron Perth Catholic District School Board has been breaking barriers to help
students with special needs excel in their academic performance.

The Huron Perth Catholic District School Board recently introduced a specialized reading intervention program called Empower Reading to all its elementary schools. This initiative uses a variety of strategies and tools to help students develop comprehension skills such as reading and writing. The Empower Reading program was developed by professionals in the Learning Disabilities Research Program at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).

“I love this program because we learn how to read, we learn different words, I’m happy,” said a grade 3 participant.

The strategies aim to teach students to decode, analyze, and understand the text. Through ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the strategies, the students are developing relevant literacy skills, enabling them to be flexible and independent readers. The Empower Reading program target a specific group of students in grades two to five. The students are struggling significantly to learn to read and not developing the necessary skills despite many interventions.

Share this story today to celebrate the great work Huron Perth Catholic District School has been doing to incorporate diverse learning in the classroom.