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Regular classes stopped for summer in New Haven’s public schools — but the regular reading didn’t.
Superintendent Carol Birks and her crew helped make sure of that by launching a summer reading challenge. She popped in at King Robinson School Friday to launch the challenge, a citywide competition at various grade levels.
“The District has secured over 40,000 books to distribute free to our students to encourage them to continue to learn and grow academically throughout the summer. This year, the schools with the highest percentage of participating enrollment and the highest number of books read by participating students at the end of the summer will be recognized for their accomplishments,” stated a release from the public schools’ Youth, Family and Community Engagement Office.
Last I heard, school ended a month ago. How many kids are going to benefit from this after-the-fact book give-away? Good PR for the superintendent. But, this was a great opportunity MISSED for the NHPS and the award-winning New Haven library system to collaborate: the library has a long-standing, successful summer reading program. The library has plenty of books, knowledgeable staff available to direct children to great books, reading logs, prizes....Why is NHPS intent on reinventing the wheel?