Right to Read

Here at Waterloo Catholic District School Board, our Multi-Year Strategic Plan envisions our schools as the heart of the community, where there is success for each and a place for all. We are committed to improving student outcomes in reading through evidence-based instruction rooted in students’ strengths and needs. When students are learning to read, they are also learning to speak, listen, create, write, and think. They see themselves and others in texts and learning materials, and they experience the joy and possibility that literacy learning can ignite.

When students are at-risk for early reading difficulties, we utilize a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) across the grades to build foundational skills in alignment with the Ontario Language Curriculum, 2023, 1-8, Ontario Kindergarten Curriculum, 2026, and Policy/Program Memorandum 168. This includes the following:

• Early screening in Kindergarten (year 2) to Grade 2 to determine who might be at-risk for early reading difficulties.
• Eight Literacy Special Assignment Teachers (LSAT) to support educators with early screening, early identification, and responsive instruction/intervention.
• Professional development focused on Differentiating Instruction (DI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to enhance the learning experiences of our students using updated, curriculum-aligned resources, texts that are personally and culturally relevant, and assistive technology tools to enhance accessibility.
• Compass for Success -digital dashboard to consider the overall learner profile and support continuity of learning across grades.
• Intervention programs such as Corrective Reading, Lexia, and Empower, to improve word level reading, decoding, spelling, reading fluency, and comprehension.