FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Sue Rockwell
Reach Out and Read Virginia
(804) 521-0425
srockwell@rorva.org
Glen Allen, VA, May 21, 2011 – The Primrose School rockin’ with the Diggity Dudes, raising over $3000 for Reach Out and Read Virginia.
The Primrose Schools of Twin Hickory and Westerre Commons held their annual Spring Fling on Saturday May 21, 2011. The preschool students and their parents enjoyed barbeque, live music and lots of other fun activities under glorious blue skies. The highlight of the event was the silent auction and raffle to benefit the Reach Out and Read programs in Virginia.
As Steve Richter explains: “The Primrose School’s partnership with Reach Out and Read underlines the importance we attach to early literacy and school readiness. In addition to the money raised at Saturday’s Spring fling event, we have hosted book drives throughout the year at both our Westerre Commons and Twin Hickory locations. We are fortunate to have such a generous group of families who attend our schools, who help us make a difference in the Richmond community!”
The Reach Out and Read program prepares America’s youngest and most at-risk children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. Through the generosity of The Primrose School staff, students and families, Reach Out and Read Virginia will be able to continue supplying books to young children growing up in poverty and provide guidance to their parents about the importance of reading aloud. As Sue Rockwell, Director for RORVA explains: “in these difficult economic times the importance of grassroots fundraising to sustaining programs like Reach Out and Read, which are working in the most underserved at-risk communities in the state, cannot be overestimated – we are so grateful for the support of The Primrose School.”
About Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read is an evidence-based, national nonprofit organization that prepares America’s youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. Reach Out and Read currently serves one-third of the most impoverished children in the U.S. The Reach Out and Read model is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners and the program has one of the strongest records of research support of any primary care intervention. This year, Reach Out and Read’s 27,000 volunteer doctors and nurse practitioners will provide 6.4 million new books to 3.9 million children at 4,654 healthcare locations in all 50 states.
“Reach Out and Read is such an efficient and effective concept,” says Chief Executive Officer Earl Martin Phalen. “Childhood development experts tell us that the most important thing that parents can do to prepare their children to succeed in school is to read aloud to them every day. Promoting early literacy and school readiness through regular pediatric checkups is a simple model that has a lasting, invaluable impact on the life of a child.”
Medical research shows that literacy-promoting interventions by the pediatrician have a significant effect on parental behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes toward reading aloud. For more than a decade, studies have indicated that parents who get books and literacy counseling from their doctors and nurses are more likely to read to their young children, read to them more often, and provide more books in the home. In addition, children served by Reach Out and Read enter kindergarten with a six-month developmental edge, and have larger vocabularies and stronger language skills.
For further information regarding the Reach Out and Read Program and volunteer opportunities, please contact Sue Rockwell, srockwell@rorva.org and visit our websitewww.rorva.org
About Primrose Schools
Founded in 1982, Primrose Schools is the country’s leader in early childhood education. Primrose Schools’ foundation is based on providing quality, early education and child care services with a balance of learning, character development and play. Developed by and taught exclusively at Primrose Schools, the school’s Balanced Learning® curriculum dynamically blends child-initiated play and teacher-guided instruction. The company’s success, fueled by parents’ demand for quality child care, is sustained by individual school owners and teachers. It is the first educational preschool to achieve accreditation by CITA/SACS CASI and CITA/NCA CASI, the prestigious associations recognized as the gold standard in evaluating local public and private schools and universities. Primrose Schools currently operates more than 190 schools in 16 states.
The excellent reputation that Primrose Schools has enjoyed for over 25 years has allowed its growth as a franchising company to continue and flourish. For more information:www.primroseschools.com
