FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, June 9, 2017

Media Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Rochester Public Schools to Host Important Dyslexia Awareness Event for Parents and Educators

Rochester Public Schools Initiative to Train Educators on One of the Major Approaches for Teaching Students with Dyslexia

ROCHESTER — Superintendent Michael L. Hopkins is pleased to announce that the Rochester School District, working with the Seacoast Learning Center, will be giving educators the opportunity to complete a free continuing education course on dyslexia throughout the 2017-2018 school year.

Starting in the fall, faculty will have the opportunity, free of charge, to complete the 60 hours necessary to achieve certification in the Orton-Gillingham Approach, one of the two widely accepted methods for teaching students with dyslexia, along with the Wilson Reading System.

To kick off the initiative, Rochester schools, in conjunction with the Children’s Dyslexia Center, are hosting a free event for parents and educators on dyslexia.

WHERE:

Rochester Opera House, 31 Wakefield St.

WHEN:

Thursday, June 15

Doors open — 5:30 p.m.

Showing of the movie “The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia” — 6-7 p.m.

Panel discussion with question and answer session — 7-8:30 p.m.

WHAT:

The event will give teachers and parents a look into the complexities of language and how best to work with students who have dyslexia.

Following the movie — which presents personal accounts of the dyslexia experience from children, adults, experts and industry leaders — attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions to a panel of representatives from the Children’s Dyslexia Centers, Seacoast Learning Center, the Rochester School Department, New Hampshire dyslexia law stakeholders, parents and students.

Information shared at the event, and the training class in the fall, will follow the Orton-Gillingham approach, which focuses on addressing students’ individual learning needs in reading, spelling and writing. The teaching concept is systematic, sequential, cumulative, multi-sensory, diagnostic and success-oriented.

Educators who complete 60 hours of classroom instruction and 100 hours of supervised practicum earn continuing education credits and become certified Orton-Gillingham teachers. Certification in Orton-Gillingham is viewed with high regard in the education community, and the approach is a widely accepted method of teaching students with dyslexia.

“This is an incredibly valuable opportunity for educators to receive this extensive training for free,” Superintendent Hopkins said. “The Orton-Gillingham approach is key for teachers and students because it provides individualized learning to students with dyslexia, giving them the skills they need become competent readers and writers at their own pace.”

Rochester Public School has collaborated with Seacoast Learning Center since the 2014-2015 school year to train new cohorts of teachers on the Orton-Gillingham practice.

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