Three Mercer County school districts have received grants to help improve the reading skills of their youngest students.

Farrell, Sharon and Reynolds will receive Reading First grants through a federal program created by the No Child Left Behind Act and administered by the state.

The schools are the only ones in Mercer County eligible, because they have more than 14.7 percent of families with low incomes and/or more than 30 percent of students who scored below basic on the fifth-grade reading assessment test. They will receive funding for three years but could get the money for six.

"We're pretty excited because we've never had a grant this large before," said Reynolds Elementary School Principal Barbara S. Clawson.

Reynolds will get $206,000 each year.

Farrell is set to receive $172,000, and Sharon $101,200.

The grants are aimed at improving reading in kindergarten through grade three, and mandates schools to implement literacy programs that are based on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and text comprehension.

Farrell and Sharon will be buying new textbooks that address all five benchmarks.

Although the districts were notified just last week that they will receive the grants, they must spend the first year's money by June 30.

The grant requires the hiring of a reading coach to train teachers and be involved in planning, assessment and other program-related duties.

Ms. Clawson said she has already put out the requirements for a coach and is preparing the job description. She said she hopes the position can be filled this year.

In Sharon, an instructional associate at Musser Elementary, a position that was due to lose its funding, will become the coach, said Michael Calla, supervisor of curriculum and instruction for kindergarten through grade eight.

Sharon also plans to use its first-year allocation for staff development, tutoring and before- and after-class assistance for kindergarten students having difficulty mastering the reading concepts, he said.

Carole Borkowski, assistant principal at Farrell Area Elementary School, said the school will spend its initial money for textbooks and staff development, while Ms. Clawson is eyeing adding classroom computers and software and staff development.

"We have the opportunity to get our teachers training we wouldn't have otherwise," Ms. Clawson said.

Each child will be assessed at least three times a year, and some students could be assessed monthly or even weekly, Ms. Borkowski said.

"The whole focus is in assessing each student multiple times throughout the school year so we will know where they are at any time," Calla said.

Students who are having trouble will get extra help.

"We already do a lot of intervention but it will be more so," Ms. Borkowski said. "We will be able to diagnose earlier and intervene earlier."

The University of Pittsburgh will be evaluating each school's program. Schools will need to show improvement to be eligible for the second three years of funding.