Bulloch Book Bus
Literacy is the number one problem Bulloch County Schools faces as it works to ensure each child reads on grade level by third grade. The Get on the Bus project is part of the school system's literacy initiatives. Each fall, when approximately 1,300 children enter the district’s pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes, the early literacy skills that each possesses can be drastically different. Educators strive to have all children reading on grade level by third grade. That’s a task they can’t fully accomplish without literacy and language skills being encouraged in the home and community from birth forward.
The district surveyed more than 400 parents who have children under eight-years-old and discovered that over 50 percent did not have access to language resources, lacked access to the local library, and had less than 10 books in their home. Also, State GKIDS data for the district’s kindergarten students showed that only 75 percent of children have the academic skills expected, and there are pockets of school zones where it dips to 50 percent. This affects academic achievement levels throughout early elementary as teachers work diligently to narrow gaps.
From this need, Get on the Bus was born. Seed money to launch the project was made possible by a $20,000 Early Language and Literacy Mini-Grant from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement and the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy at Georgia College. In January of 2018, the school system was one of 48 recipients of the mini-grants statewide.Dr. Yvette Ledford, one of four academic support directors for the district and director of the school system’s Pre-Kindergarten Program, successfully wrote the winning grant proposal.
The first goal of the Get on the Bus project is to convert a school bus into a book mobile to support the district’s early learning and literacy initiatives. The first steps will be to complete the exterior and interior design of the bus, stock it with a variety of quality books, and plan a schedule of upcoming events.
The Bulloch Book Bus will then travel to neighborhoods and communities in Bulloch County that lack access to reading and language resources. The bus will particularly provide books, help build home libraries, and encourage reading for families who have infants or early-elementary-age children. It will also provide educational activities for families. The school system wants to create a positive early literacy experience one book at a time.
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