Avondale School District Recognized by Michigan Department of Education

Avondale School District Announces Receipt of Second MDE Grant

Avondale School District has been awarded a Michigan Department of Education (MDE) grant in the amount of $40,442. The award is the second time in only six months the district has received the grant that will provide additional instruction time to students in grades K-3 who have been identified as needing additional supports and interventions in order to be reading at grade level by the end of grade 3. In May, the district received $40,590, bringing the amount awarded to Avondale by MDE in 2016 to more than $80,000.

Auburn Elementary teacher Lyn Moore listens while student Daniel Ceniceros reads aloud

MDE is awarding four categories of grants for the 2016 fiscal year, namely the Professional Development for Early Literacy Educators Grant, the Literacy Coaches Grant, the Assessment Reimbursement Grant, and the Additional Instructional Time Grant. Both of the grants that Avondale School District received are Additional Instructional Time Grants. The money will be used to provide resources and materials to support students in kindergarten and first grade in the areas of comprehension, fluency, recognition of high frequency words, oral fluency, phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling and writing, and vocabulary and language. As the students reach second and third grades, the breadth of support broadens to include the areas of phonological awareness and comprehension of literature and informational text. In addition to funding resources and materials used throughout the school day across all areas of curriculum, the funds will also be used to provide the students a block of time for intervention and enrichment to continue their literacy growth. Funds directed toward professional development, assessment tools, and resources to gather and analyze student assessments are also provided by the grants.

Avondale School District Superintendent Dr. James Schwarz sees the grant funding as an opportunity for the District to enhance efforts to support youngsters during their beginning years in school. “Educators understand the importance of students developing early literacy skills,” he said, “skills that are the building blocks for subsequent learning. The grants are a vital piece of the funding puzzle that ensures strategies are implemented and resources are allocated to help students develop those building blocks and progress to the next level of their education with skill and confidence,” he added.

The grant application was authored by Marcia Hudson who began her teaching career in Avondale in 1988. She was later named as and currently serves as the Avondale School District Elementary Literacy Consultant.