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The Department has moved to 135 Santilli Highway in Everett. The Department's office and Licensure Welcome Center are open. The new location has free parking and is a short walk from the Wellington station on the MBTA's Orange Line.
For Immediate Release
Monday, November 9, 1998
Contact:John Costello

Boston Elementary Students Receive Books as Part of State's "Spread The Word" Book Distribution Program

Malden - On Tuesday, November 10, more than 200 students at the Curtis Guild School in Boston are receiving a special delivery - over 1,000 books to take home and keep, as part of the state's Spread the Word book distribution program that gives books to children who have few books at home, from other children who no longer need the books. The books delivered to the students in grades K-3 at the Curtis Guild School come from students and families of the Gates Intermediate School in Scituate and the Sharon Middle School in Sharon. Each student will receive 5 books to take home to keep. Massachusetts Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll said, "Students need to read well, if they are to be successful in school. Children who own books and read them at home are more likely to become proficient readers. The Spread the Word program helps, and I am pleased that it makes a difference." Schools with students designated to receive books are identified based on results of the 1998 Iowa Grade 3 Reading Test. Schools that reported the highest percentage of students reading at low levels were selected to receive books this year. In addition to Boston, students at schools in Brockton, Cambridge, Chelsea, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, New Bedford, Springfield and Worcester are receiving books this year. The Spread the Word program was initiated in 1995 by then Lt. Governor Paul Cellucci and his wife, Jan. This year's program, coordinated by the Massachusetts Department of Education, will deliver 60,000 books to 12,000 students in eleven school districts. The coordinators for the Thursday delivery are: Curtis Guild School Principal Simon Ho, at 617-635-8523 in Boston; Gates Intermediate School Principal Patricia Cosgrove, at 781-545-8760 in Scituate; and Sharon Middle School Principal Denise Holmes, at 781-784-1560 in Sharon. For more information on Spread the Word, visit the Massachusetts Department of Education website at www.doe.mass.edu.



Last Updated: November 9, 1998



 
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