Therapy/ Comfort Dog Program
Dear Members of the J. Turner Hood School Community
Over the past several months the J. Turner Hood Elementary School has piloted the implementation of the use of therapy (comfort) dog services. Student, staff and parent feedback has been positive and encouraging. As a result, we are excited to announce the conclusion of our therapy dog pilot and are at the point of whole-school implementation.
Currently, we have Logan as our therapy dog. Logan is a certified therapy dog through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs. Both he and his handler, Mr. Jeff Borkowski (a North Reading resident and North Reading parent) have gone through extensive training and classroom preparation to receive this certification.
Over the past several months we have been researching implementing the use of a therapy dog and discussing the benefits to our school community.
The benefits are numerous according to the literature. Through this research we have learned the following:
A 2019 study published by the National Institute of Health found that a dog present in the classroom promotes a positive mood and provides significant anti-stress effects on the body.
A study conducted by the University of California on canine reading programs found that students who participated in one program increased their reading fluency by between 12 percent and 30 percent.
Therapy dogs help children learn social skills, preventing social isolation. Interaction with therapy dogs has also been found to cause a social catalyst effect, and this further helps improve the stimulation of social behavior.
It is important to also understand the connection that this pilot program has to our school improvement plan goals for this school year, specifically focusing on improving the school climate and the student's emotional experience. In order to assist with this we enlisted Logan, a male Labrador Retriever (5 years old) to join us periodically. He started on Monday, November 14th and has been a positive influence to our school.
It is our plan to utilize Logan (and possibly others to be named certified dogs) schoolwide beginning on February 27, 2023.
Please let us know prior to Friday, February 17, 2023, if your child will not participate by completing this form: https://forms.gle/oXovKsZpgZYH9JQTA
Please feel free to reach out to me via email if you have any questions.
Warm Regards,
Mr. Glen McKay, Principal