Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com

Fowlerville Community Schools was recently named as one of 39 districts in the state to receive a grant for innovation in teaching literacy.

The $187,000 35n Reading Excellence and Advancing District Innovation Grant is part of the $6.7 million in funds that is being awarded by the Michigan Department of Education.

The 39 districts were selected out of a total of 115 applications.

The funding is available through the State School Aid Act for fiscal year 2025. The legislature designated $10 million for such literacy initiatives, which could be used by other districts around the state to improve literacy for students.

Fowlerville Community schools said it will use the funding to “decrease learning loss by focusing on orthographic mapping, a Science of Reading practice that strengthens students’ ability to connect sounds to letters and store words for fluent reading,” a press release said. A K-5 academic interventionist will lead professional development, modeling orthographic mapping in classrooms and co-teach small-groups during Tier 1 blocks. Officials said this will serve as a bridge between direct student intervention and instructional improvement.

The district will be using fidelity checks and monitor student growth to ensure the success of the initiative.

“We are incredibly honored to receive this literacy grant, which will allow us to add an Interventionalist and further strengthen the important literacy initiatives already underway in our district,” Superintendent Matt Stuard said. “I am incredibly proud of our staff for their commitment to ensuring every child has the tools to succeed as a reader. Their determination to see our literacy rates continue to grow is inspiring, and this grant provides the resources to build on the progress already being made.”