First Nation School Board works to turn the page on low literacy rates in Ross River [Video]

When nine-year-old Sterling Atkinson did his reading test this year at his school in Ross River he got 100 per cent — zero errors across all three of the books he was tested on.

“He’s one of the best readers in his class,” said his teacher, Catalino Macaron. 

At the beginning of the last school year, on average primary students in Ross River could read 46 words. By June, that number had jumped to 82 words, according to numbers from the First Nation School Board.

The school board says of all the schools under its stewardship, Ross River had the most improved literacy scores in the 2023-24 school year. It says it is rewriting not only how students are taught to read, but also how they engage teachers, parents and the community in the process.