ROANOKE, Va. – A local organization is being recognized for making great progress on key indicators for early school success.
Roanoke's Star City Reads is being awarded the Pacesetter Honors from the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.
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This is Star City's fourth consecutive year in a row receiving the award for its continued effort to increase the number of students reading at a third-grade level in Roanoke City public schools.
“We have been able to increase the third-grade level from 65% to 76%,which,according to the campaign, no other community in the country has been able to do that,” said Sheila Umberger, director of Roanoke City Public Libraries.
Umberger said that she attributes the success to placing over 100,000 books into the hands of children since 2012 and growing the Star City Reads partnerships with community agencies.