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Instructional coach outlines schoolwide literacy push at Virgil Grissom Elementary
Summary
Kelly Houston, the instructional coach at Virgil Grissom Elementary, told the North Scott Community School District board the school is building on LETTERS training and the Iowa State Comprehensive Literacy Plan with a word-of-the-week program, family reading challenges and a new caregiver resource hub.
Kelly Houston, instructional coach at Virgil Grissom Elementary, told the North Scott Community School District board the school is expanding its literacy work after strong assessment results.
"We had over 97% of our third through sixth graders proficient in English language arts on ISASP," Houston said, and added the school’s median student growth percentile was 73. She framed current efforts as sustaining high proficiency while closing gaps for students “on the bubble.”
Houston described multi-year professional development using LETTERS — Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling — and said K–5 teachers completed the training, administrators participated in leadership sessions, and special-education staff continue their coursework. "LETTERS provides educators with in‑depth knowledge and tools that they can use with any reading program," she said.
To put instruction into practice, Houston outlined schoolwide routines: a daily "word of the week" (this week: "analyze") that teachers reinforce across subjects, weekly classroom activities that build synonyms and usage, and incentives for students who apply vocabulary. She said the program runs Monday through Friday with morning announcements and visual supports throughout the building.
Family engagement was a core focus. Houston described monthly reading challenges — from library visits to class competitions — and incentives such as hot‑cocoa bars and popcorn bars to encourage participation. She also unveiled a caregiver resource hub that aggregates Iowa standards guides, links from the Iowa Reading Research Center and other grade‑level resources; the hub was launched last week and Houston said she has produced a short video to show caregivers how to use it.
Board members praised the materials and asked whether the hub was being shared districtwide. Houston said the district will survey caregivers to identify barriers and track usage, and staff will reflect this year to plan next steps, including piloting a weekly social‑emotional skill alongside literacy work.
The presentation concluded with board members commending the visible engagement and routine adoption across grade levels. Houston said typical monthly reading challenge participation runs about 50–60% and the school will continue to refine outreach to families.
