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Meet Sasha, A Thriving Moonshot Academy Student
Early childhood education programs like Moonshot Families can help ensure students start school ready to read. But how should schools support students already in elementary school who are not on track to finish third-grade reading on grade level?
Enter Moonshot Academy.
Launched in 2015, Moonshot Academy is part of The Learning Alliance’s commitment to deliver targeted intervention and academic enrichment before school, after school, and in the summer. It’s proven to be such a successful model for students that we expanded to eight campuses across Indian River County in 2018. Today, it is helping more than 400 students in kindergarten through third grade close literacy gaps and catch up to their peers.
Sasha is One of These Students.
When Sasha transferred to Beachland Elementary for her second-grade year, she was reading at the 5th percentile. This result made her eligible for Moonshot Academy, where teachers would put in extra work to help get her reading on grade level by the end of the year.
“Her teachers have all commented on how hard she has worked, and how this has helped her endurance with projects and school work as her reading confidence has increased,” said Doug, her father. “I believe a large component, besides her two really awesome teachers at school, is the educational curriculum of Moonshot.”
After nearly a full school year of Moonshot Academy, Sasha loves to read. By early April, she was already reading at the 69th percentile, with the expectation she’ll be even higher by the end of the school year. She’s already exceeded her reading test goal, and her latest report card boasted three A grades and a B.
Recently, Sasha began reading The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, which is written at a fifth-grade reading level. Inspired by the book, she built her own model robot when the Vero Beach Museum of Art came in as a guest teacher.
“We’ve tried other things before, but they just didn’t have the time to really help,” said Doug. “Moonshot Academy is different. It boosted her engagement with school and helped her in other subjects, too. With math word problems, for instance – she just beat both her math goals for the year, too.”
Sasha’s story is just one of many tales of progress: Moonshot Academy students demonstrate at least 50% more growth in reading compared to their peers.
“Sasha is a daydreamer,” said Doug. “The Moonshot Academy was able to help her stay focused. They give the kids a little bit of recess in the beginning to get their energy out and they bring in guest speakers to help the kids stay engaged. It’s a winning formula.”
Learn more about : How Moonshot Academy Helps Students Read.
