Huber Heights City Schools

Rushmore and Wright Brothers Elementary Schools were both recently named Governor's Science of Reading Champion Schools by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.

The award recognizes the schools' commitment to providing every student with high-quality literacy instruction aligned to the Science of Reading. Both HHCS schools will receive a banner to recognize this achievement.

There were 109 schools statewide that earned Science of Reading Champions designation in 2025-26. The other three elementary schools in the Huber Heights district earned this award in 2024-25.

"I am continually inspired by the hard work and dedication our staff brings to improving literacy in Huber Heights City Schools," said Shalen Back, primary curriculum supervisor in the HHCS Department of Curriculum and Instruction. "I truly love this district, and it is a privilege to work alongside individuals who care so deeply about our community and remain committed to supporting every student’s literacy journey."

Rushmore and Wright Brothers earned this award by meeting state standards that include teacher training, skills assessments and measurements to inform instruction and intervention, progress monitoring, building-level team meetings, and a local literacy plan.

As part of the application process, the schools had to submit an individual success story. Wright Brothers told the story of Harley, a kindergarten student under teacher Sheri Weaver in 2024-25 who made remarkable progress in her early literacy skills. Harley increased her mClass DIBELS Diagnostic score by 189 points and moved from well below benchmark to meeting grade-level expectations. When Harley entered kindergarten orientation, she could not identify any letters or sounds; however, by the fourth quarter Interim, she was confidently identifying all letters and sounds and reading and writing CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) and digraph words.