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Upper Darby Kindergarten Center extends literacy pilot of 'Really Great Reading' and 'Arts and Letters'
Summary
Anna Marie Delosse told the board the kindergarten center continued a pilot combining Really Great Reading (explicit phonics) and Arts and Letters (vocabulary and comprehension) through the full school year, and staff and students demonstrated phonics routines and space-themed learning activities.
Anna Marie Delosse, administrator of the Upper Darby Kindergarten Center, told the school board the center piloted two literacy programs this school year and that administrators requested the pilot continue for the remainder of the year to allow full classroom implementation.
"Every child is capable of greatness," Delosse said as she summarized how the programs work together: Really Great Reading focuses on explicit phonics and phonemic-awareness instruction while Arts and Letters builds vocabulary, comprehension and knowledge through engaging texts.
Kindergarten teachers and students shown in the presentation demonstrated phonics routines—letter-sound practice, digraphs and a space theme that included space certificates when students met learning milestones. A student in the presentation said, "We're learning digraphs now," and staff described routines such as "pinch, flip, launch" to teach pencil grip and handwriting lines (star, moon, earth).
The administration said the pilot aimed to give kindergartners stronger foundational skills so they enter first grade with routine familiarity and stronger decoding and comprehension abilities. No districtwide adoption was announced during the presentation; Delosse and instructional coaches were thanked for implementing the pilot with fidelity.
What’s next: The board will consider districtwide implementation for the 2026–27 school year after review of pilot outcomes and staff feedback.
