St. Lucie Public Schools Purchases Reading Horizons to Improve Reading Performance

(Port St. Lucie, FL) September 11, 2018 — St. Lucie Public Schools in Florida has purchased Reading Horizons, a leading provider of literacy solutions, for all 26 of its elementary schools for this school year. The decision came after the Florida Senate passed a bill that requires instructional materials to incorporate evidence-based strategies, including a phonics-based approach to acquiring literacy skills, which improve reading performance for all students.

Reading Horizons will be integrated into St. Lucie Public Schools’ curriculum of every kindergarten through 2 grade classroom, along with various 3 grade classrooms. As part of the deployment, more than 400 educators were trained before the school year on how to best support their students’ growth using the platform.

“A solid foundation in phonics is essential to building students’ literacy skills across all subjects,” says Kimberly Jay, Director of Elementary Curriculum. “St. Lucie Public School teachers have been geared up to use Reading Horizons in the classroom. We believe improving our students’ foundational reading skills will be the stepping stone to better comprehension of any topic.”

The Florida Senate bill doesn’t require districts to pick up state-approved reading instructional materials until 2021, but leadership at St. Lucie Public Schools is working far in advance of that deadline to strengthen students’ scores on the Florida State Assessment by providing phonics instruction and curricula to students starting in kindergarten.

“Early intervention is crucial to students’ success in reading. We are excited that leadership within St. Lucie Public Schools has chosen to implement Reading Horizons ahead of the state’s schedule to help its youngest learners as soon as possible,” said Reading Horizons’ president and CEO Tyson J. Smith, “At the same time, they’ve offered teachers the comprehensive professional development they need to make the most of the platform. We look forward to impressive results from students within St. Lucie Public Schools.”

About St. Lucie Public Schools
St. Lucie Public Schools (SLPS) proudly serves students as the highest-ranking district on the Treasure Coast and fifth in Florida with a graduation rate of 90.1 percent. As a B-rated district, there are no failing schools, and SLPS is ranked among the top one-third of Florida’s districts for student achievement. The District also has the distinction of being recognized as one of St. Lucie County’s Best Places to Work. The mission of SLPS is to ensure all students graduate from safe and caring schools equipped with the knowledge, skills and desire to succeed. For more information, visit http://www.stlucieschools.org.

About Reading Horizons
For more than 30 years, Reading Horizons has dedicated its time and efforts to perfecting a reading system that makes learning to read simple and enjoyable for beginning and struggling readers. All of Reading Horizons’ products are based on a method that provides explicit, systematic, sequential decoding instruction. The Reading Horizons method has been proven successful for beginning readers, struggling readers, and students learning English. For more information, please visit ReadingHorizons.com.