Chalkbeat Colorado, a publication devoted to state education news recently profiled Westminster Public Schools innovative plan to provide more reading assistance to young children calling it, “a bet that offering kids more personalized help from trained adults will improve reading outcomes.”

The story, posted earlier this month, takes a closer look at the WPS initiative to place paraprofessionals in every kindergarten class. The paras lead students in small group instruction and also provide one on one instruction. As the story points out, the district views the $1 million program as an investment in young minds.

“If you don’t develop a reader by the time they’re walking out of first grade, they have a hard time catching up,” Mat Aubuchon, Executive Director of Learning Services told Chalkbeat. 

Aubuchon added that the investment won’t show immediate results on statewide standardized test results because the current kindergarten students won’t be tested until they reach third grade. “It’s about playing the long game,” Aubuchon told Chalkbeat.  

In early 2026, What’s Up WPS will spend time in one of the innovative classrooms and report on the impact the initiative is having.