Making progress in Chester-Upland schools

CHESTER, Pa. (WPVI) -- Students in the Chester Upland School District are reading better than ever.

"For our kindergarten students, reading readiness has improved by 900% which is a big, big deal for us," Dr. Joseph Watkins said.

A big deal because the district, at one point, had the worst academic performance in the state.

As a whole, elementary students have improved their reading levels by 380%.

The district is using a new program from the American Reading Company that assesses each student's independent reading level, so there is no frustration for the student, as teachers build up from right where he or she is.

"I make sure they're reading their reading logs, that their writing in their reading logs, and their parents are involved," teacher Dietra Burton said.

Students like 7-year-old Brooklyn at Stetser Elementary love it.

"I like reading because it teaches me about really important stuff and about new things I didn't even know yet," Brooklyn said.

The district also announced that violent incidents are down by 40% at Chester High, a school plagued by violence.

Administrators attribute the improvement to a new principal along with cutting down the amount of time students had to interact in between classes.

"This is very, very good news for us because we are going to provide for our young people, as we are demonstrating, a safer environment, an environment where kids can be well educated," Watkins said.