Boosting Literacy Locally: How Fruitvale's Walk to Learn Program is Making a Difference at Columbia Elementary

The Walk to Learn program at Fruitvale School District, initiated at Columbia Elementary, aims to improve literacy rates. This response to low literacy levels both locally and nationally involves about 60 percent of students who are not reading at the expected grade level. The program offers tailored, systematic instruction to address the varied needs of students.

Dr. Angie Summers, principal of Columbia Elementary, played a key role in starting the program. Inspired by a similar initiative at Louden Elementary in the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District, Summers launched the pilot in 2019. The program enhances literacy skills, focusing on fluency, phonics, comprehension, and writing, and adapts to each student's needs.

The program uses a tiered system with levels named intensive, strategic, benchmark, and enrichment. It includes daily rotations of nearly an hour where teachers focus on specific literacy skills. Students can move between levels based on their performance, assessed three times a year.

The program's success stems from extensive teacher training and the addition of instructional aides for small group instruction. These efforts are vital for the effective implementation of the program.

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