We are very, very pleased with the software from Essential Skills. We use it from grades 1-7. These programs are also great for our older students who are performing below grade level. It very much supports the curriculum.
Winifred Spears, Principal
Principal, Principal, Mississippi
Principals
The kids really enjoy using the programs from Essential Skills. We bought the programs for our K-1 students and we are happy with the results. You really can't find similar programs that are so economical.
Bob Stephenson, Principal
Principal, Principal, Maryland
We use the Essential Skills programs with our K-2 students on a daily basis. They are used in the afterschool program as well. We like the way the way the programs reward and reinforce student learning. The Marks Manager for tracking and reporting student achievement is very useful to us as well. Ever since we started using the programs for reading intervention with our first and second grade students, we have seen that our third and fourth grade students are much more ready to learn.
Brenda Hoerner, Principal and Title I reading teacher
Principal and Title I reading teacher, Principal and Title I reading teacher, Montana
We have nine Essential Skills programs that we use with Kindergarten through Grade Five on a daily basis. These programs are great for supplementing and reinforcing the classroom curriculum. They certainly do teach the essential skills. It is easy for the teachers to manage and easy for the children to use. We've really enjoy the software.
Carolyn Reeder, Assistant Principal
Assistant Principal, Assistant Principal, Arizona
We have 4 ESS site licenses at our school and we use the programs for specific skill intervention. The programs are used in the regular classroom but more with remedial reading groups and Special Ed. The students work with the programs 2-3 times per week. We have noticed definite improvement in targeted skills
Cindy Worrall, Principal
Principal, Principal, Montana
All students K-4 use the software and have been using Essential Skills Software for years. The skills in the literacy programs correlate to the state standards.
Dale Layne, Principal
Principal, Principal, Idaho
We use the software from Essential Skills everyday. These programs help prepare the students for State testing because they correlate so well with the Core Content Standards for the State. I recommend these programs to other schools.
Dale Layne, Principal
Principal, Principal, Idaho
The teachers absolutely love this software and the children beg to go on these fabulous programs. These programs exceed the needs of the children. When we switched to using Essential Skills Software our costs went down significantly from using the Waterford program. Kids absolutely love the graphics. These programs were developed by teachers who really do understand how children learn. Class work has improved in the area of decoding and word recognition skills. Test score improvements on the IRI can be in part attributed to these wonderful programs. As a bonus the computer and keyboarding skills gained on these programs makes the children more ready for ISAT testing.
Deanne Dye, Principal
Principal, Principal, Idaho
We are really excited about the programs from Essential Skills. They are exactly what we needed. The students love the programs and find them fun and motivating. The teachers like being able to go into the marks manager and get reports to use in parent conferencing. I'm a great believer in your products!
Deborah Forest, Principal
Principal, Principal, Oklahoma
We love your software and use it with our kids every day. These programs also really help the kids who are lower functioning and at the beginning stages of reading. The children respond well and are motivated to learn using the Essential Skills programs.
Del Quigley, Principal
Principal, Principal, North Dakota
The first thing I do as the principal of a new school is add the programs from Essential Skills. The programs offer a perfect blend of basic skills practice and reinforcement. They are also highly motivating for the children. Essential Skills is a low cost technology-based solution that is readily available to help address instructional gaps.
Janice Hatcher, Principal
Principal, Principal, Mississippi
We have used Essential Skills programs in the computer lab and in the classrooms for the past three years. They are being used successfully in the lower grades to build the necessary early math and reading skills and in the upper grades they are used effectively for remediation. These are excellent skill building programs to supplement the classroom curriculum.
Karolee Rosen, Principal
Principal, Principal, California
We have three Essential Skills site licenses - Phonemic Awareness, Reading Comprehension and Sight Words in our school. Students in Kindergarten and Grade One are using the programs daily. They are also used for remediation. The teachers are very pleased with the results.
Kenny Perry, Elementary Principal
Elementary Principal, Elementary Principal, Arkansas
The Resource teacher and 1st grade teachers are using Essential Skills programs with their students. Our test scores are good and we would attribute some of that to the Essential Skills Software. The skills that the programs teach correlate well to our state standards.
Larry Bandy, Principal
Principal, Principal, South Dakota
Your software is extremely user friendly and the games and activities tie in nicely with the curriculum guidelines. The software supports and supplements the classroom curriculum. Our students use it on a daily basis. It is helpful to be able to isolate a skill that is being taught and reinforce the learning of it with this software.
Linda Henderson, Principal
Principal, Principal, Louisiana
We use the two Sight Words programs for all students in grades one through four. These programs are great! They are designed to meets the needs of all students even the weakest ones. Each program uses many types of activities to suit different learning styles. This allows the children to work independently at their own ability level. To top it off the kids absolutely love the programs from Essential Skills! Another bonus is that we have never had to ask for Tech Support.
Linda LaFoy, Principal
Principal, Principal, Alabama
This is one of our favorite software companies. We use their programs consistently with our children. We are observing a measurable gain in our students' reading progress and that can be attributed in part to the programs from Essential Skills.
Marcia Barber, Principal
Principal, Principal, Utah
The Essential Skills programs have been highly recommended by our teachers. They find them very adaptable to students and very supportive of the curriculum.
Marcia Johnson, Principal
Principal, Principal, Alabama
Our classrooms and our Learning Center use over 15 programs from Essential Skills. Your software allows our students to receive an intensive, independent, individualized instruction on specific skills. The programs use teaching practices that all good educators employ. Each program has a variety of activities and strategies for every type of learner. Our school was recently honored as a California Distinguished School. The software from Essential Skills has enhanced our curriculum and was a contributing factor in helping us to earn this honor. Your programs easily integrate into the classroom curriculum and are reliable tools for skill development. They are easy to use by the student and are helpful in documenting progress for the teacher. I highly recommend these programs to other schools!
Meriam Wilhelm, Principal
Principal, Principal, California
Essential Skills Software has made a difference in our school. The students and teachers love the software. We feel that these programs are having a direct and positive impact on the progress of our students.
Mrs. Palumbo, Principal
Principal, Principal, New Jersey
We have five Essential Skills programs in our computer lab. Our Kindergarten and Grade One students use them daily. Both the teachers and students love this software. These programs do a great job of building and reinforcing the basic skills.
Sheila Denson, Principal
Principal, Principal, Alabama
You can't find better value for programs to help children with their basic reading skills then the programs from Essential Skills. These programs have more content then some programs costing ten times as much.
Stephen Fogo, Principal
Principal, Principal, Ohio
We have been using programs from Essential Skills for a couple of years. It was originally intended for ELL but now all students use the software. These programs inspire our slow readers to succeed. The skills align nicely with the state standards for Language Arts. We feel that these programs have been very beneficial to the students.
Tim Bybee, Principal
Principal, Principal, California
We are utilizing the programs with both Special Ed. and the regular classrooms. The students and teachers like the software. We had single user licenses and we upgraded to site licenses.
Tom Becker, Superintendent/Principal
Superintendent/Principal, Superintendent/Principal, Nebraska
My teachers love it. In primary, especially K-1 they are spending 30 minutes a day on ESS programs. The 1st grade teachers say these are their favorite programs. I have recommended ESS to the Diocese.
Valerie Able, Principal
Principal, Principal, Nebraska
Our students' benchmark reading levels have improved dramatically since we started using the Early Literacy Programs from Essential Skills. Our kids are enjoying these programs thoroughly and are developing confidence in their ability to read and understand what they are reading.
Anna Alexander, Principal
Principal, Principal, Ontario
By far the most widely used programs in the school. We are big supporters of Essential Skills.
Dan Brown, Principal
Principal, Principal, Manitoba
Our teachers think the Spelling Stumpers program from Essential Skills is fantastic. The teachers at each grade level can create customized spelling list for their students in addition to the words provided in the program. The kids love the program because it allows them to learn at their own pace. The upper end spellers like the program because it keeps challenging them with more difficult words. There is a nice variety of good spelling activities for each word list. Grades 2 through 5 are using this program in our school.
Jon Yellowlees, Vice Principal
Vice Principal, Vice Principal, Saskatchewan
We find that these programs offer excellent reinforcement for students. The programs are easy to use and the students can work on them independently. The programs return the students to where they left off and provide immediate feedback and a summary of their daily results. For children with weaker motor skills these programs allow them to do much more practice in a session than they would with pencil and paper tasks.
Linda Patrick, Principal
Principal, Principal, Nova Scotia
Some Essential Skills programs are used every week. Spelling Stumpers is used more than once a week. The very best feature is the custom spelling list. We can enter what we teach in the classroom. It's awesome! The grade 9-10 teacher is even using it for her French class because the auditory is there. The grade 1 & 2s are using both levels of Super Phonics. Grammar and Writing Fundamentals are used with the older grades as each skill is taught in the classroom. Reading Comprehension and the Read to Succeed series are also used extensively in the resource room.
Mariette Baker-McDermid, Principal
Principal, Principal, Saskatchewan
We have 10 Essential Skills site licenses in our computer lab. The students are using the programs 2-3 times each 6 day cycle. They are very good programs. If we try to get them on something else they want to use the Essential Skills programs.
Mark Forsythe, Principal
Principal, Principal, Saskatchewan
Basically all the classes are using Essential Skills in the computer lab for a half hour to an hour a week. I use Mastering Numeration with my students for 40 minutes a week. Our teachers really like Reading Comprehension and Sight Words. We particularly like the Marks Manager and use it to print reports for parents. The students find the programs motivating. We would highly recommend your programs.
Perry Mamer. Principal, Principal
Principal, Principal, Saskatchewan
As the principal of an elementary school with a limited curriculum budget you can't find better value than the programs from Essential Skills to help students develop their basic reading and math skills.
Stephen Elliott, Principal
Principal, Principal, Ontario