Penn Manor School District is among 54 schools across the state of Pennsylvania that are receiving grant funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Penn Manor will receive $954,466 in grant money, making this the largest grant in our district’s history. The funding will be distributed throughout all seven elementary schools across the district and will help implement structured literacy curriculum in the classroom.
Structured literacy is a systematic approach to reading instruction that provides a strong core of foundational skills that set students up for success.
“We are incredibly grateful for this $954,466 grant, which represents a turning point for our K-3 reading program,” said Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Krista Cox. “For years, our aging resources have been held together through the sheer dedication and determination of our elementary teachers. This funding allows us to finally place the high-quality, research-backed materials they deserve directly into their hands. By strengthening collaboration around reading among our principals, instructional staff, and our learning facilitators — who bring vital expertise in the science of reading and structured literacy to our classrooms — we can ensure consistent, powerful implementation across every elementary school in Penn Manor.”
Penn Manor will use the funds to adopt a cohesive, evidence-based program explicitly aligned to structured literacy practices. This adoption will unify phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension into a single framework. The new framework allows our district to shift the focus from remediation to prevention.
“Providing these resources, alongside targeted professional learning and interventions, will profoundly impact student achievement during those foundational years when our children are learning to read, setting them up for a lifetime of success once they begin reading to learn,” noted Cox.
Our learning facilitators will merge the new core materials with high-impact, research-based instructional strategies to assist with implementation of the updated curriculum. The building principals and supervisors will participate in targeted professional development to prepare for the new curriculum. This will allow the building principals and supervisors to continue their data-oriented work with elementary data teams.
We look forward to seeing the lasting impact this grant has on our classrooms and students.