Three Oxford School District teachers, Leanne Hester, Kerri Case, and Stephanie Roy, have completed a 2-year training program in an accredited dyslexia therapy program through the University of Mississippi Education Consortium.

At the conclusion of the two-year training, Hester, Case, and Roy led professional development for 25 teachers and learning specialists from districts across Mississippi on the History of the Language, Alphabet Knowledge, and Alphabetic Principle. These teachers are interventionists in the district and are working toward becoming Certified Academic Language Therapists.

The intensive cohort incorporated the five pillars of reading using Orton-Gillingham based curriculum Take Flight:  A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia, led by Nancy Coffman, Director of the Shelton Academic Reading Approach at the Shelton School in Dallas, Texas.

The curriculum was designed for use by dyslexia therapists with children 7 years and older who have developmental dyslexia.

The cohort was provided by North Mississippi Literacy Project — a collaboration of the Shelton School and the University of Mississippi designed to improve literacy in the Oxford City School and Lafayette County, Mississippi. The Oxford School District maintains ongoing innovative practices to be accountable to students who struggle with dyslexia.

The district can now offer a comprehensive range of services from PreK through 6th-grade campuses.