FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cambridge, MA - At 6PM on October 4, 2019 Cambridge will Light Up City Hall Red to mark World Dyslexia Awareness Day. Members of the community are invited to join this event and wear red to signify your support for dyslexia awareness as Cambridge launches a month of activities taking place in schools, libraries, and the community including the following:
Light It Red at City Hall
October 4, 2019
Sunset Ceremony starts at 6PM
Cambridge City Hall - 795 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge
Dyslexia Community Resource Fair
October 19 from 1 - 4PM
Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School - 459 Broadway, Cambridge
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Barbara Wilson, Author & Co-Founder of the Wilson Reading System®
Decoding Dyslexia MA Light It Red Ceremony at the Zakim Bridge
October 19 - Sunset / 6PM
Paul Revere Park - Charlestown
Read-Alouds of The Alphabet War
Grades 2-5: Ask your child’s teacher about CPS Dyslexia Awareness Classroom Read Alouds of The Alphabet War
Dyslexia Awareness Month Displays at the Cambridge Public Library
Be on the lookout between September 29th - October 6th
449 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138
We are excited to bring together a partnership which includes school and community stakeholders to raise awareness in the City of Cambridge about Dyslexia as the most common learning disability.
About Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a brain-based issue that makes it hard to learn to read accurately and fluently. Dyslexia is a lifelong condition. Students don’t outgrow dyslexia, but with the right support, key skills can improve. As many as 1 in 5, or 17 percent of people show signs of reading challenges. Many successful people have dyslexia, and researchers have been studying it for over a century. It’s important to know that while dyslexia impacts learning, it’s not a problem of intelligence. People with dyslexia are just as smart as their peers.
About the Cambridge Dyslexia and Struggling Readers Working Group
The Dyslexia and Struggling Readers Working Group, which is comprised of parents, school administrators, teachers and community members, was formed in July 2019 and began meeting monthly with the Assistant Superintendent for Student Services and members of her staff to support program improvement for students with language-based learning disabilities including early screening and intervention and Dyslexia Awareness. This working group is a sub-committee of the Cambridge Special Education Parent Advisory Council. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact: Zuleka Queen-Postell (
[email protected]) and/or Mercedes Soto (
[email protected]) Planning Meetings take place on Wednesdays, 12-1:30pm.
Dyslexia and Struggling Readers Working Group Purpose Statement
To build effective partnership with school and community stakeholders to ensure that Cambridge Public School Students with dyslexia and struggling readers: are taught in a way that is evidence and science-based and appropriate for their learning and emotional needs, rigorous, joyful & culturally responsive; receive personalized support; experience post-secondary Success, and become engaged community members.
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Contact:
Dyslexia and Struggling Readers Working Group
–Mercedes Soto, Parent Co-Chair
617.682.0268;
[email protected]
–Dr. Alexis Morgan, Assistant Superintendent, Office of Student Services (OSS)
Office: 617.349.6500;
[email protected]
–Zuleka Queen-Postell, Family Liaison, OSS
[email protected]