NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
2 April 2003

MAYOR ANNOUNCES OVER $2.1 MILLION IN NEW GRANTS TO CITY SCHOOLS, NAMING OF ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT

Harrisburg, PA—Mayor Stephen R. Reed today announced two grants totaling $2,144,830 for a major additional literacy program and an expansion of the district’s after-school program.

Additionally, the Mayor announced the selection of a new assistant superintendent.

The first grant, for $980,000, is a Reading First Grant from the state Dept. of Education and will cover the first year costs of a six-year program to bolster the literacy skills of all students in the Kindergarten through Third Grade levels. A total of 2,370 students will be included, along with 125 teachers.

Best practices proven to be successful in teaching this age group will become the new teaching methods in Harrisburg. Teachers will go through an intensive training program to gear-up for the new techniques. Every student will be administered the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test—3, a nationally recognized test that measures a student’s Reading ability. Instruction and materials are then focused on improving each child’s Reading capacity. Monitoring student progress is included in the overall Reading literacy initiative.

Reed said the second grant is for a total of $1,164,830 over a three-year period to expand the District’s successful after-school program to three more schools, reaching at least 180 additional students per year.

This effort, however, will specifically focus on students who score in the lowest quartile on the state tests, have poor school attendance or who have a history of family problems. The program includes both the students and their families. The three sites will be known as Harrisburg 21st Century Community Learning Centers.

At each Center, which will be operational when school is not in session, students will be treated to Reading improvement instruction and service learning projects, by which students develop positive relationships with adults, their school and their neighborhood and, with this, a sense of attachment to the school and learning.

Parents are included, as well, with parenting skills, literacy, career and GED instruction being provided. A program highlight involves field trips for students to historic, cultural and educational sites and events. The targeted age group for this program are students in Grades 3 through 5. The monies are divided as $236,248 for the next seven months, $464,291 for the following twelve months, and $464,291 for the last twelve months.

Reed said the new program will be conducted from 3:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday during the regular school year, one Saturday per month, and will include a full day summer session.

Reed additionally announced the selection of Gail Tapper of Yardley, Pennsylvania, as a new assistant superintendent for the city school district. Ms. Tapper, who is presently the assistant superintendent of schools for the East Windsor Regional School District in Hightstown, New Jersey, will oversee the new Harrisburg Polytechnic Institute’s Preparatory School, that opens next school year. She will additionally oversee personnel and public information functions and staff of the district. Due to her duties associated with the Prep School, she is a joint appointment of both the Harrisburg School District and the Institute.

Prior to her most recent post, she served as the Director of Personnel and Administrative Services for the Lawrence Township Public Schools in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and earlier served as the principal of that district’s high school. She entered the education field as a Spanish teacher in 1974.

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