Approach to Reading

Reading is the tool that unlocks a student’s education, and St. Paul’s structured literacy program is the foundation for reading on our campus. Structured literacy is a scientific, research-based reading approach that is focused on the structure of language. Teaching a student to read requires introducing, reviewing, and practicing concepts in sequences from simple to complex. As we work with our youngest students on reading, we help them decode words by applying sound-symbol relationships. Our goal is to provide our students in junior fours through second grade with every tool necessary to become proficient readers, so they feel equipped for third grade and beyond.

As a school, we realize that each student we work with begins in a different place regarding their literacy journey. Regardless of your child’s reading progress, structured literacy is either advantageous or essential to them becoming confident and independent readers. When considering our students, we find that only five percent of students can seemingly and effortlessly learn to read independently. For the remaining 90 percent of students, research shows that explicit, systematic, and sequential code-based instruction is either beneficial or necessary.

Through our lower school teachers and our Center for Student Success team, we work with students individually, in small groups, and as a class to help students grasp the concepts and tools of reading to unlock their potential for a comprehensive education. Our Center for Student Success team is certified by the Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA) and is fully qualified to provide phonology, syllable instruction, morphology, syntax, and semantics through multisensory learning.