News that the Jamestown LEAP program is nearing full funding for the coming year is good news.

At a time when many school districts are struggling to provide needed support for students, the Jamestown Public Schools have found a way to provide education for struggling students during the summer months without spending taxpayer dollars.

LEAP, which stands for Learning Enrichment and Academic Progress, has in past years included field trips, group lessons that include phonemic awareness, sight words and guided reading that works to increase reading fluency and comprehension. Creation of the LEAP program brought summer reading program participation from 134 students to 430 students in its first year.

In the program’s first year, students attending the program read an average of 845 minutes and averaged 28 new sight words gained. Of the 396 students who participated, 98% did not see a loss of reading skill over the summer months while 81% of parents surveyed felt their child’s reading improved over the summer.

We hope the rest of the funding for the program comes through. The LEAP program is well worth the community’s investment.