LETRS for Early Childhood Educators builds confidence for teachers, students alike

When it comes to early childhood education, there can be many questions to answer.

What does it look like?

What are its components?

Importantly: Is it necessary?  

Educators at Alabama’s Wetumpka Elementary School in the Elmore County School District can answer those questions and confirm firsthand the absolute need for high-quality early childhood education for every student.

Wetumpka Elementary is a pre-K–fourth grade Title I school that receives federal funding to help provide resources for students. Recently, the school’s pre-K teachers completed training in Lexia® LETRS® for 

Early Childhood Educators because school and district leaders saw the need to improve young students’ foundational skills.

Designed by Dr. Louisa Moats and Dr. Lucy Hart Paulson, this course of study emphasizes research that shows the foundation of literacy begins at a young age.

With her LETRS for Early Childhood Educators training, Wetumpka pre-K teacher Brittani Jenkins learned how to address some challenges her students faced.

“Writing has always been a struggle for my students in the past,” she said. “LETRS Early Childhood goes into the developmental stages of writing … LETRS Early Childhood has shown me exactly what I need to be teaching my students here so that when they get to the next level in kindergarten they are ready.”

This approach to high-quality early childhood education has made the pre-K programs in Elmore County School District so popular there are waiting lists across the district for students to participate.  

“You can say LETRS has increased the confidence of our teachers, and it’s increased the confidence of our students,” Wetumpka Elementary Principal Myeshia Brooks said.

Watch this inspirational video to learn more about LETRS for Early Childhood Educators and the impact it’s making in classrooms across the country.