On Tuesday, Feb. 11, author James Patterson visited Cypress Trails Elementary School in Royal Palm Beach.
Patterson is sponsoring a documentary that features the best practices to help children learn to read. Teachers in grades K-3 at Cypress Trails use a phonics program called Foundations by the University of Florida Literacy Institute.
Patterson and the documentary film crew visited classrooms and interviewed staff, students and families.
Cypress Trails Principal Bruce Saulter said it was a great honor to host Patterson, noting that he has seen a tremendous impact made by the Foundations program in a short time.
“Students in kindergarten and first grade started using this program during the 2023-24 school year. Our current first-grade students are a key group because this is their second year in the phonics program, and 64 percent are already meeting grade-level standards in phonics at just halfway through the year,” Saulter said. “Not a single first-grade student is scoring below kindergarten level in phonics due to using the program for whole group instruction and interventions. This is the success that Mr. Patterson and the documentary team was featuring.”
