It’s also a good lesson in responsibility, Schwab said, as students have to remember to bring their library card on the day the bus is coming.
Herold noted the availability of bilingual books on the bus, whose staffers speak Spanish. That allows the staff and bus to be a resource for the families of the more than 450 English Learner students at the three Madison schools.
It’s a great example of what opportunities a community school can create, Gittens said, and it was quickly appreciated by the students who have used it so far.
“Rather than families having to go and hunt for resources, we try to bring those resources here,” she said. “For a lot of them, it was just this sense of feeling lucky that this was for them.”
Despite spending far more than most taxpayer supported K-12 school districts, Madison has long tolerated disastrous reading results.