Early Literacy at Halpern Akiva Academy

by HAA staff

(Calgary) – As the embers of a successful school year still glow bright, many look back and make an accounting of the many accomplishments. At Halpern Akiva Academy (HAA), one year-long project is at the forefront of the administration and Board’s minds.

Back in August 2023, Mrs. Caitlyn Cameron, the principal of HAA, was approached by Nelson Halpern, Miriam Trehearne, and Edith Dimant with an idea. Miriam Trehearne, a dedicated literacy specialist, had shared recent educational statistics with Nelson and Edith on literacy rates in Alberta, and how she had successfully led a research-based literacy initiative, which significantly improved literacy rates. Her initiative‘s success in closing literacy gaps by third grade was even validated by university researchers and an independent evaluator. This inspired the three of them to approach Halpern Akiva Academy with a plan of implementing a similar program over the 2023/2024 academic school year. Mrs. Cameron was very excited to implement this program, and the Early Literacy Initiative was conceived.

After several further meetings, two new literacy curricula were included in Kindergarten through Grade 2, as strong supplements to the Akiva literacy program; Letterland and Heggerty. They are both resources for teaching phonics, phonological awareness and other foundational literacy skills. Ms. Kelsey Lovell, the Director of Inclusive Learning, also hired an Early Literacy Interventionist, Mrs. Erin Hynes towards this initiative. Miriam continued to generously give of her expertise and time to provide high-level professional development to the HAA staff several times over the course of the year.

Halpern Akiva Academy has seen improvement from every child participating in the program, evident through Alberta Education’s literacy testing and additional important assessments. Testing showed the most significant areas of improvements were phonological awareness, fluency, and reading comprehension. Beyond that, and perhaps more importantly, students have developed a strong love of reading and developed their self-confidence in reading thanks to this program. Upon reflection on the success of the program, one parent who happens to be a recent immigrant to Canada shared, “when we first arrived, our daughter did not speak English. Now, thanks to Akiva, she speaks better than me!” “I wish I had had these resources available when I was growing up. I still struggle with reading and wonder how different my life would be with having learned these skills,” another parent confided privately to the administration.

As Halpern Akiva Academy assembled its Gala Committee, it did not take long for Edith Dimant to be nominated as the honoree. After some needed convincing, Edith acquiesced to be recognized for her contribution to the newly implemented Early Literacy program at HAA. Literacy has a very special place in Edith’s heart, and she continues to be very motivated to give children access to resources and learning opportunities that she was not afforded in her youth. “I know that with proper support, strong classroom literacy programs and one-on-one intervention as needed, children today do not have to struggle,” Edith Dimant stated.

Halpern Akiva Academy is very grateful to Nelson Halpern, Miriam Trehearne, and Edith Dimant for their dedication to this project, and look forward to a successful second year of its implementation.

Those interested in supporting the cause can email office@akiva.ca for more information. Thank you very much to all our supporters!