Georgia officials are changing how students are taught to read. Educators in Marietta are the blueprint

Dr. Jillian Johnson, Principal of A.L. Burruss Elementary School, leaves a kindergarten classroom after checking in as part of her daily routine. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

Principal Jillian Johnson regularly walks the halls of A.L. Burruss Elementary School in Marietta. The practice is part of her routine – a way to check in on her school family, literally.

Johnson is a parent of two Burruss Beavers: Elizabeth, a third grader, and Caroline, a kindergartner. 

She stopped by Caroline’s class earlier this winter to watch her daughter learn to read. Mrs. Lauri Bruton led the lesson.