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Superintendent Monica Hazel highlights ‘Ignite Reading’ pilot as students lead pledge and are honored
Summary
Superintendent Monica Hazel told the board the district is piloting a one‑on‑one virtual tutoring program for early readers with promising early gains; the meeting also featured a student presentation on a school garden and recognition of top readers and math-achievement students.
At the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District board meeting, Superintendent Monica Hazel described a new early‑reading pilot called Ignite Reading and invited trustees to observe the program in action.
Hazel said the pilot — implemented as “high dosage 15 minute live 1 on 1 virtual tutoring” for beginning readers — has been running at Fallbrook STEM Academy with a cohort of 20 second‑grade students who attend early each day. "Every child has their own individualized personal live reading teacher," Hazel said, and staff reported that participants have made rapid gains: "in just 5 hours of tutoring, our students have moved from the beginning of kindergarten level all the way to halfway through first grade," she said.
The superintendent said the district plans to expand the pilot to offer 20 seats at every school, with a primary focus on first grade, and that the district will review data and teacher feedback before broader rollout. Hazel invited board members to drop by morning sessions to see the tutoring in action.
The presentation followed a student segment led by La Paloma Elementary fourth‑grader Jackie Coppock, who described her school garden as a hands‑on learning space and thanked volunteers including the Fallbrook Lions Club and master gardener Sharon Zorms. "Our garden gives students a hands‑on opportunity to learn in a really fun way," Coppock said.
Board members also celebrated district recognitions: Hazel noted multiple schools were named Leader in Me Lighthouse Academic Honor Roll recipients and read a list of honored sites. The board announced that district students had logged 800,000 collective reading minutes as of the first day of school and highlighted the district’s Your Next Chapter Reading Challenge, which closes Jan. 30.
Next steps: the superintendent said she will provide further data from the Ignite Reading pilot as results are analyzed and staff prepare recommendations for expansion.
