Canfield schools add guided reading rooms in quest to be No. 1

CANFIELD

The only school district in Mahoning County to receive an “A” on its state report card is eyeing to be a top-10 district by 2017.

To do that, Canfield Local Schools has added guided reading rooms in both elementary buildings, C.H. Campbell and Hilltop, for teachers and eventually students to use to improve their reading skills.

“Most top districts in Ohio are having” these rooms, C.H. Campbell principal Travis Lavery said. “We’re already top in the tri-county area — it’s just a matter of expanding that further.”

Wednesday was the first day for teachers in the elementary schools to get a look at each building’s guided reading room. At C.H. Campbell, it was an unused classroom that has books in various types of bins and baskets based on reading level and in groups of six to eight for that size reading group or individual books for independent reading. Hilltop principal Joe Maroni said his building’s room is a bit smaller, but comparable in the number of books and setup.

A few teachers at a time walked into the room to talk with district literacy coach Carol Young to ask questions and see how the system works. There were many times a teacher and Young would talk about how they can tweak their teaching curriculum to utilize the room once a district-wide initiative begins the week of Oct. 6 for every classroom to implement a guided reading course.

Read more about the program in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.