This week we are recognizing a Brookstone Student who just completed her first year at Brookstone as a Kindergartener – Robina.
Robina, the youngest of five, is the only one in her family that was born in the US. Her parents spent more than twenty years as refugees when the Bhutanese government identified the Nepali minority to be a threat and banished nearly one-fifth of their population from Bhutan.
They moved to Charlotte in 2014, and their older four children have been enrolled in Charlotte’s public schools with poor results. Her parents are hard-working, kind people who are committed to their children but lack the tools necessary to advocate for their children in the overwhelming system of Charlotte’s public schools.
In March 2020, Robina only scored 1% on a kindergarten readiness test. Normally, this would disqualify her from attending Brookstone, but kindergarten teacher Mary Snoke agreed to take a chance on Robina — with astonishing results.Four months into the school year, Robina was confidently reading words such as “cat, dig, rug, bed, sit” and recognized colors and shapes without missing a beat.
After one semester of kindergarten at Brookstone, Robina surpassed her parents’ level of formal education.
Robina’s progress only accelerated in the second semester. Her reading assessment score went from zero at the beginning of the school year to 111 at the end. Robina’s composite score includes letter naming, breaking words apart, and recognition of nonsense words. The benchmark for kindergarten is 119!
In the year of COVID-19 where so many kindergarteners were not able to be in the classroom, we are thankful that we were able to be in-person to serve students like Robina.
As we celebrate what our students like Robina accomplished this year we are confident that Brookstone is meant to play a growing role in shaping Charlotte’s future. During June, our goal is to raise $100,000 to help as we meet the needs of the 30 new students we plan to enroll for the coming year. For those who have already given, we thank you for your support!
Follow us on Instagram or Facebook as we share stories of Brookstone students and families all month.