![\"Northwest](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/REG-L-ReadingSchools1806.jpg\")
Northwest Middle School is one of five middle schools in the Reading School District participating in the district\u2019s new Climate, Culture and Instructional Coherence, or \u201c3C,\u201d initiative.. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\nThe Reading School District is launching a yearlong initiative aimed at strengthening learning environments, leadership and classroom practices across its five middle schools.<\/p>\n
Dr. Khalid N. Mumin, superintendent, introduced the effort at a recent school board committee of the whole meeting.<\/p>\n
Mumin described the effort, dubbed Middle School Climate, Culture and Instructional Coherence, or 3C, as a strategic refresh, rather than a wholesale overhaul.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me be very clear, the intent with the work that I\u2019m about to speak of is not a redo of the hard work and accomplishments and the progress that we\u2019ve made,\u201d Mumin said. \u201cThis is a refresh of areas within the strategic plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
The district has five middle schools \u2014 Central, Northeast, Northwest, Southern and Southwest \u2014 that serve students in grades five through eight.<\/p>\n
Mumin said those years are a critical period for academic growth and student development. However, he noted, district data show middle school achievement and growth have remained flat at most schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is an appropriate time and opportunity to really engage and support our administrators and our educators in the classroom so that we can bring better data and even have more rich experiences with our students in our middle schools,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The initiative, Mumin said, is intended to serve as a bridge to improved outcomes in high school and beyond.<\/p>\n
To lead the effort, the district contracted Birts Consulting Services LLC of Reading. The consulting team is led by Kimberly Birts, a retired Reading principal with more than three decades in the district, and Roger Jackson, a retired principal and longtime Berks County educator who has worked on school improvement projects in multiple states.<\/p>\n
Northwest Middle School is one of five middle schools in the Reading School District participating in the district\u2019s new Climate, Culture and Instructional Coherence, or \u201c3C,\u201d initiative.. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not about introducing something new,\u201d Birts told the school board. \u201cIt is about clarifying focus, strengthening systems and ensuring that what we say we value as a district is consistently reflected in our middle schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
The initiative is organized around three integrated focus areas, she explained:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Student climate and support centers on creating consistent expectations and experiences across all five middle schools so students and families encounter the same standards regardless of building.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Administrator support and leadership will provide structured professional learning communities for principals and deans, with an emphasis on developing leaders as climate builders, instructional monitors, community partners and organizational managers.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Instructional practices, focuses on classroom observations and collaboration with the district\u2019s curriculum and instruction team to establish a baseline of excellence in student engagement and teaching quality.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you visit high performing schools, they all have three things in common,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cGreat instruction, great climate and great leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
The goal, he noted, is not to single out individual teachers, but to identify successful instructional practices and support their consistent use across classrooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plan is to go in and identify high-leverage actions, activities that teachers do that we know will lead to increased instructional outcomes,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cFrom a posture of support, not a posture of evaluation, not a posture of \u2018gotcha,\u2019 but helping teachers understand, \u2018Here\u2019s a great strategy, here\u2019s a great method,\u2019 and supporting them in implementing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The initiative will begin with planning and staff engagement, Jackson said, followed by a formal launch and instructional rollout. Each month will focus on a leadership lens, ranging from school climate and standards to instructional monitoring and culture building, he said.<\/p>\n
Regular classroom observations will be used to identify patterns and growth trends rather than evaluate individual educators, Jackson noted.<\/p>\n
![\"Central](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/REG-L-ReadingSchools1808.jpg\")
Central Middle School is one of five middle schools in the Reading School District participating in the district\u2019s new Climate, Culture and Instructional Coherence, or \u201c3C,\u201d initiative.. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Mumin said the work is designed to strengthen systems, not create another standalone program. It aligns with district priorities such as Safe and Supportive Schools, academic excellence, consistent systems and shared expectations, Red Knight culture and the district\u2019s developing Portrait of a Graduate initiative, he said.<\/p>\n
Jackson said aims include improving attendance and engagement, reducing behavioral incidents, increasing instructional consistency and growing in academic performance across student groups, all of which will be measured for impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make sense to do anything if we\u2019re not going to measure and have outcomes,\u201d he said, emphasizing the long-term nature of the work.<\/p>\n
The initiative, he said, is not a program, but a systems-building effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cCulture survives people,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cGreat leaders can inspire for a short period of time, but a system and a culture survives transition, and we are looking to build a culture of middle school in the Reading School District.\u201d<\/p>\n
Board members largely expressed support for the initiative and interest in updates on future progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Reading School District is launching a yearlong initiative aimed at strengthening learning environments, leadership and classroom practices…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":{"0":"post-104081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-berks-county","9":"tag-essential-reading","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-reading","14":"tag-reading-city","15":"tag-reading-city-headlines","16":"tag-reading-city-news","17":"tag-top-stories-reg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}