Yale University in New Haven, Conn., made the decision that they want to help contribute to nearby schools to improve local education. They announced on Tuesday that they would invest $100,000 in West Haven public schools. West Haven school administrators are very grateful for the University’s investment.

This $100,000 will mainly fund reading materials for elementary school students. A smaller portion of the funding will go toward purchasing computer and Smart Board software. West Haven Public Schools Superintendent Neil Cavallaro stated, “Improving early literacy is one of the most important items on the district’s agenda. It is very difficult for third-grade students behind their appropriate reading level to make up the different with their peers. To prevent such reading level setbacks, the new funding will target young elementary school students and attempt to bring all students to reading at grade level.”

Reading levels and topics of school books need to be wide-ranging so students are reading at their individual level on topics that actually interest them. The $100,000 donated by Yale will fund books of all genres, from non-fiction to poetry. Now that West Haven public schools will have access to a whole new variety of books, this will be the chance to improve their students’ reading abilities.

In 2007, Yale University purchased the Bayer Healthcare Complex and founded West Campus. Since then, Yale has invested more than $1 million in the city of West Haven, with the determination to reach out and improve the West Haven community. Neil Cavallaro commented, “Yale administrators have been very generous to us. When they purchased West Campus, they made it clear that they wanted to be a part of our community. We hope it continues for a long, long time.”

It was said that Yale’s donation will fund programs such as the Daily 5, which is a West Haven elementary school program in which students rotate positions throughout five different reading activity stations, such as “read to self” and “listen to reading.” Daily 5 allows teachers to work with individuals or small groups, showing the students that they are not learning alone, which will benefit and help them in the long run.