Staunton students are back behind their desks Wednesday, where the main focus is literacy.

Bessie Weller Elementary is one school back in session and the teachers already getting down to business.

This year, the school is taking on a new program called Literacy Immersion for young students struggling to read.

Specialists say, when it comes to reading, children can struggle in many different areas, so they try to tailor the instruction to the student.

"You try to bring that all together for each child, so that they can get through the words to understand what it is they're reading, but comprehension has always been my biggest push. Because if you can't comprehend it, you're not really reading," says Reading Specialist Chris Paskvich.

In previous years, students were on their own to do more self learning, but teachers think the Literacy Immersion Program will be much more teacher directed.

"You find that with kids that can't do too much, they don't learn by themselves. They need teacher direction, and they were in classes with other kids that could do that, but they weren't doing it. They weren't learning or benefiting from that kind of instruction. So we're just trying to fit the instruction to the children," says first grade teacher Alice Meeteer.

First grade students will spend two hours a day in small groups to work on their reading abilities.