Schools

Verona Schools Begin All-Encompassing Reading Initiative

The F.N. Brown and Brookdale Avenue School communities will all simultaneously read "The Cricket in Times Square" to share a common reading experience.

An entire school community will come together Tuesday, as F.N. Brown and Brookdale elementary schools kick off an initiative in which students, parents, teachers, administrators, custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and everyone involved in the schools picks up and reads the same book at the same time.

“The project is called One School, One Book, and it is a program designed to unite a school community in literacy,” said F.N. Brown and Brookdale Library Media Specialist Corisa Walker.

The program is sponsored by the Verona Foundation for Educational Excellence.

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On Tuesday, March 26, F.N. Brown will hold a kick-off assembly at 9 a.m. to introduce students and parents to the program.

“We think it will be a great, fun way to set the tone for this reading celebration,” said Walker.

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“The Cricket in Times Square” by George Selden, a Newbery Honor Book in 1961, was selected to get the community talking about this timeless children's classic.

“Boasting with vivid characters, and themes of friendship, "The Cricket in Times Square" is a heartwarming story that will be loved by our Kindergartners through our fourth graders, and parents will be charmed as they reminisce about a well-loved classic,” said officials on the Verona One School One Book website.

Every family will receive a copy of the book along with a reading schedule. Parents are asked to read the scheduled chapters and each day students will review vocabulary, trivia and curricular activities. 

Questions will also be posted on the website and students, parents and staff are encouraged to respond to each night's post. 

“A very special thanks to the Verona Foundation for Educational Excellence,” members of One School, One Book said on its website. “Through their special grants program, the One School, One Book program is creating a unified literacy experience, where a love a reading is fostered, and family read-aloud time is enjoyed.”

Click here for more information on One School, One Book.


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