MONTEBELLO – Students returning to La Merced and Winter Gardens Elementary schools and their parents got a special welcome at their Back-To-School Nights on Sept. 9. Read Conmigo, a national award-winning literacy program that promotes English and Spanish reading, donated bilingual easy-to-read books to the two MUSD schools.

“We are greatly appreciative to Read Conmigo for making these valuable bilingual educational materials available to the Montebello Unified community,” Montebello Unified Board President Edgar Cisneros said. “These books are powerful tools in the pursuit of bilingualism and are right in line with our goal to promote diversity and academic excellence in both English and Spanish.”

The Back-To-School Night book giveaway complements MUSD’s thorough commitment to ensuring all District students have access to a path to biliteracy. Read Conmigo’s mission is to combat the academic loss children experience during summer break, known as “summer slide.” As part of the giveaway, Read Conmigo donated their entire collection of bilingual books to the school libraries at La Merced and Winter Gardens, the two District elementary schools that provide Dual Language Immersion Programs.

“I like that both languages are in the same book because some students don’t know English, but can still read in Spanish,” Kenneth Perez, a third grader at La Merced, said.

During the event, parents were encouraged to register to receive a new book every four months and received information on how to download any e-book in the Read Conmigo library for their mobile devices and tablets.

One popular book donated by Read Conmigo was “Matteo and His Abuelito”/“Matteo Y Su Abuelito,” written by Manuel Martinez and Erika Perret-Martinez with illustrations by Salomon Duarte.

“These books expose students to literacy in both languages and promotes bilingualism and effective communication,” Erika Garcia, parent of a second-grader at La Merced, said. “It’s a really exciting program.”

MUSD is committed to providing students rigorous instruction that will allow them to be globally competitive in an increasingly multilingual and multicultural world. In February the MUSD Board of Education adopted Ethnic Studies curricula as a high school graduation requirement.

“This is a wonderful gift for our students and a great way to start the school year,” MUSD Superintendent of Schools Susanna Contreras Smith said. “Providing our students with a path to biliteracy is the starting point for a college- and career-ready curriculum and high-quality instruction that will no doubt prepare them for the future.”

Photo Captions

MUSD Bilingual Books1: Students returning to La Merced and Winter Gardens Elementary schools, with the parents, got a special welcome at their Back-To-School Nights on Sept. 9; Read Conmigo, a national award-winning literacy program that promotes English and Spanish reading, donated bilingual easy-to-read books to the two MUSD schools.

MUSD Bilingual Books2: Students returning to La Merced and Winter Gardens Elementary schools, with the parents, got a special welcome at their Back-To-School Nights on Sept. 9; Read Conmigo, a national award-winning literacy program that promotes English and Spanish reading, donated bilingual easy-to-read books to the two MUSD schools.