Page County outlines Virginia Literacy Act rollout, seeks reading specialists and approved interventions

Page County officials told the School Board they are moving quickly to implement the Virginia Literacy Act across the elementary and middle grades and to expand screening and intervention supports for students struggling with reading. Sarah Hamill, the division’s director of teaching and learning, described required materials, screening and the division’s steps to meet state expectations.

The literacy update matters because the law changes which instructional materials and interventions schools must use, requires targeted interventions and student reading plans for at‑risk learners, and will require additional staff capacity at the middle‑school level.

Hamill said the law, which focuses on the science of reading, expanded last year beyond kindergarten–third grade and now extends through eighth grade. "This is a piece of legislation that sort of went live last year and included the state's stance on the science of reading and leveraging what's called high quality instructional materials," she…