St. Vrain Valley Schools and its four partner districts have been awarded a $2 million grant from the state for Project Launch.
The money comes from Colorado Department of Education’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, related to COVID emergency money. The specific grant relates to expanded learning opportunities.
Of this grant, $1.3 million will support St. Vrain students while the remaining $700,000 will be divided among the four rural partners, the Cheraw, Las Animas, Montezuma-Cortez and Estes Park school districts over the next two years.
Project Launch was piloted in 2020 as an evidence-based, month-long summer literacy program for rising kindergarten through fifth-grade students. This grant will also allow the partner districts to continue and expand the program, targeting students who will benefit from additional literacy support.
The program will run four consecutive weeks in the summers of 2023 and 2024 with a minimum of one and a half hours of daily planning and data analysis time for teachers, 45 minutes of structured literacy intervention, 120 minutes of language arts, 120 minutes of STEM activities and 60 minutes of specials.
St. Vrain will serve 480 students and expand the program to serve preschoolers, the district said. Each rural district will serve 60 students, except for Montezuma-Cortez, which will serve 120 students as an expansion of the pilot.
The program maintains small class sizes to ensure a high level of individualized instruction and is taught by certified teachers with specialized reading training and coaching, the district said. Teachers will also receive daily coaching from a literacy specialist and training in Orton-Gillingham and Fundations, programs shown to be highly effective in supporting struggling readers.
The program will also provide ongoing communication with students’ families and multiple literacy-related family engagement events during the summer meant to support families and build their confidence in creating a literacy-rich home environment.
