June 9, 2025 – Mexico Middle School was selected to receive a $20,000 grant through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) program. 

For MMS, the CLDS  funding will support strong, evidence-based literacy efforts for students in grades 6–8. The grant will go into effect for the 2025-26 school year and continue through 2028. 

The grant supports literacy-related items such as resources and materials, professional development for teachers, and family and community literacy events. MMS will participate in the statewide training and reporting to ensure the impact of the funds are used in ways that make a real, lasting difference.

The MMS Intervention Committee, chaired by 8th grade ELA teacher Makenzie Mudd, saw a need for resources with school-wide literacy. DESE recently implemented Reading Success Plans (RSPs) in elementary schools and now those are following students to middle school.

“RSPs allow us to pinpoint the reading struggles that students have and provide supports and interventions to help improve reading. We knew that this could be a challenge at the middle school level, as some students need skills like phonics, which secondary teachers are not trained to teach,” Miss Mudd shared. She added this will be a collaborative effort between the elementary teachers, instructional coaches, and MMS teachers. 

“When I heard about the grant, I saw it as a great opportunity to strengthen how we support students with RSPs,” continued Mudd. “But it’s not just for students, this funding will also help all of our teachers grow in literacy instruction, better supporting every student in our building.”

MMS Principal Kyle Louder echoed Miss Mudd’s intervention guidance.  “With the new RSP requirements from the State, we are going to need more resources to meet the needs of our students,” said Mexico Middle School Principal Kyle Louder. “We’re excited to continue investing in high-quality literacy experiences.”

The CLSD grant is state-funded through Title I, Part E of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Learn more about Missouri's CLSD program.