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Sims-Fayola
International Academy
“Where Vision Meets Hard Work”

Reading and Boys!

It is no secret that Black and Hispanic males have been traditionally underserved and are struggling in
US schools as they are currently structured. Two recent reports, one from the Council of the Great City
Schools (CGCS) and one from the American Institutes for Research, reveal that the achievement gap is still
large between students of color and their white peers. Students of color are markedly underrepresented in
the top 25th percentile of students in the United States. The proportionally low number of African-
American and Hispanic male students who achieve at high levels academically and are globally competent
and competitive is the fundamental issue guiding our mission, vision, and practices. With graduation rates
declining and drop-out rates, suspensions, and enrollment in special education programs increasing, the
leadership of Sims-Fayola recognizes the challenge and humbly accepts the responsibility of being part of
the movement to improve the educational outcomes for this student population.
This and future newsletters are designed to inform community members and families of the issues
affecting males in our schools. It is also designed to highlight the approaches that Sims-Fayola will use to
provide a “boy friendly” environment that will increase the chances of academic success and reaching their
life goals!
 Six Steps To Learn What Reading
Instruction Should Do For Males
Reading is fundamental. When children don’t read at basic or proficient
levels by third grade, they are unlikely to graduate or succeed in life. This is
especially true for young men, who develop their capacity for reading just as
they enter school. So for parents, it is important to read to your kids. At the
same time, it is also critical to make sure that the school your child attends is
also on the job, especially since 40 percent of all kids will need special
reading instruction no matter what you do at home.
Dropout Nation offers six key things to look for in your school’s reading
instruction. Also, listen to Dropout Nation Podcasts on how to improve
reading for your kids and the youngsters around them, and learn what
teachers should be doing in classrooms when it comes to reading instruction.
Read, pay attention to what teachers are doing, and take action if you don’t
think they are doing the job.
1. A focus on phonetic awareness: Your child should be learning the
ability to manipulate sounds in words, an integral part of decoding
what it read.
2. Emphasis on phonics: Teachers should be teaching your child the
relationship between written letters and sounds. If this doesn’t
happen, your child will not be able to read.

Our Goals 3. Building background knowledge: This is as critical as phonics

because your child needs to know about the world around him —
including history, social studies, even science — in order to build
strong reading comprehension — or the ability to gain meaning
1. Send 100% of our while reading. The school should have a strong, rich curricula for
young men to each grade — and every teacher should be able to tell you what your
child should learn (and what the school or district expects you to
college without
learn) in the grade your child
remediation.
2. 100% of our young
men to experience
international travel.
3. For 100% of our
young men to
Mission
communicate
effectively in a
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4. Graduate 100% of
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 Core Values
Vision* Discipline* Character* Hard Work* Commitment

is in. If not, begin advocating for the adoption of more- 6. And it all should lead to strong reading
rigorous curricula or find them another school. comprehension: This doesn’t just mean being able to
just pronounce words correctly and being able to speed
4. Gain a vast vocabulary: Each day, your school through a book. They should be able to tell you or their
should be doing what you do at home: Teaching your teacher what is
child words, their definitions and the context in which being discussed
they should be used. Preferably, the teacher should teach in a book or
your child at least five new words a week (if not more). paragraph. Again,
Again, if it isn’t happening, start making it happen — if this isn’t
even if you have to do it yourself. happening, you
need to take
5. Get your child to read faster and pick up action, both in
information more quickly: Sure, every child reads at school and at
different speeds. At the same time, there is a point where home.
your child should be able to read aloud a text designated
for their grade without a lot of stumbling (a first-grader
should be able to read 60 words per minute). The teacher
should have your child read constantly, repeatedly,
sometimes working on the same passage, until they get
up to speed. If this isn’t happening, take action.

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Our Motivating Beliefs

Sims-Fayola International Academy Denver

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