New York, NY — September 6, 2011 — Twenty elementary and middle schools across the country have a lot to celebrate as they go back to school – they rank as the Top 20 schools whose students read the most minutes in the Scholastic Summer Challenge. The free program encourages children to read books and log their minutes during the summer to help avoid the ‘Summer Slide,’ the loss of learning skills while out of school. This year, 4,193 schools representing 22 countries logged an astounding 64,213,141 reading minutes – breaking last year’s record of 52,710,368. In addition to logging their minutes, children participated in weekly reading challenges, earned virtual rewards and contributed to their school’s overall minutes.

Students from the Top 20 schools read and logged the most minutes and earned a listing in the 2012 Scholastic Book of World Records, which will be available through Scholastic Book Fairs, Scholastic Book Clubs and in bookstores nationwide this fall.

"Scholastic congratulates all the students who participated in the Scholastic Summer Challenge and helped set a new world record for summer reading," said Francie Alexander, Chief Academic Officer, Scholastic. "These students will begin the school year better prepared for the more challenging work they face in the next grade level."

The Top 20 Schools in the Scholastic Summer Challenge 2011 are:

1. Brooksville Elementary School, Brooksville, FL - read 3,176,409 minutes
2. Beacon Cove Intermediate School, Jupiter, FL - read 2,464,096 minutes
3. St. Isidore Elementary School, Danville, CA - read 2,075,131 minutes
4. St. Gregory Elementary School, Tyler, TX - read 1,553,670 minutes
5. Paine Intermediate School, Trussville, AL - read 1,449,044 minutes
6. Highland Elementary School, Sylvania, OH - read 1,362,203 minutes
7. Paine Primary School, Trussville, AL - read 956,355 minutes
8. Liberty Park Elementary School, Greenacres, FL - read 885,872 minutes
9. Broadview Elementary School, North Lauderdale, FL - read 779,732 minutes
10. Pleasant Grove Elementary School, Inverness, FL – read 727,481 minutes
11. Union Elementary School, Temple, GA – read 706,766 minutes
12. Osseo Area Schools Kidstop Summer Program, Maple Grove, MN – read 659,006 minutes
13. Enders - Salk Elementary School, Schaumburg, IL – read 625,193 minutes
14. Walker Elementary School, Chuluota, FL – read 623,075 minutes
15. J. Harold Van Zant Elementary School, Marlton, NJ - read 607,437 minutes
16. Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Charlotte, NC - read 591,796 minutes
17. Westdale Elementary School, Northlake, IL – read 586,742 minutes
18. Village Elementary School, Hilton, NY – read 566,098 minutes
19. Westview Middle School, Longmont, CO – read 563,235 minutes
20. Heritage Elementary School, Greenacres, FL - read 523,835 minutes

The Scholastic Summer Challenge kicked-off on April 27th, 2011 and culminated on August 31st, 2011. The program will be back for its 6th year in summer 2012 with new prizes and new books to get kids excited about reading. Stay tuned!

Visit www.scholastic.com/summer to learn more about the Scholastic Summer Challenge and for more information about Scholastic, visit our Media Room.

CONTACT:

Yanique Hart
212-343-6901
yhart@scholastic.com