Murfreesboro City Schools opened its first reading clinic in 2012 with hopes of expanding the concept throughout the school district.  The reading clinic, located at Mitchell-Neilson Elementary, has proven to be a huge success with measurable results.

The clinic serves children in grades 3-6 who struggle with reading skills.  Children attend the reading clinic after regular school hours and are coached by reading interventionists and special and general education teachers working together.

“Twenty percent of student have a reading problem,” says Dr. Caresa Brooks,

Coordinator, Reading/Instructional Interventions, Murfreesboro City Schools. “We’re being proactive and helping children learn to enjoy and comprehend reading early so they don’t struggle in future years.”

“Statistics show children who struggle in reading in 3^rd grade continue to be poor readers in 9^th grade,” says Brooks. “We’re striving to break that cycle and help students succeed.”

The Reading Clinic is one component of a comprehensive approach to reading designed to increase student success in reading and comprehension.

From a student’s perspective: “I learned how to stop at periods and read carefully.  I learned how to work together.  We learned how to read books.”