GUILFORD – A voluntary program to help improve learning in SAD 4 has been eagerly embraced by parents and their children alike, school directors learned Tuesday.

The district is participating in the research of new software called Fast ForWord, which retrains the brain by employing computer-based exercises that rapidly and systematically develop the skills needed to become a better reader. For its participation, the district received $50,000 of free software.

Fast ForWord has had great success in other schools across the nation, but SAD 4 is the first Maine public school to pilot the program.

“We were kind of overwhelmed with the numbers [of children who signed up for the voluntary program],” SAD 4 Superintendent Paul Stearns said Wednesday. About 95 percent of the children in grades one through three are enrolled in the program. In addition, more than 200 middle school pupils and 60 high school students are participating, he said.

“We’re excited about that program,” Stearns said.

Another offering this year funded through a Community Learning Center grant and shared with Union 60 will be an after-school bus run four nights a week to key locations throughout the district. Stearns said this addition would allow children to participate who could not have otherwise because of the lack of transportation to after-school programs.

Although the state predicted SAD 4 would have a steady decline in enrollment, that has not been the case, directors were told Tuesday.

Stearns said the enrollment on Monday was 867, the same enrollment as in 1999. Live birth rates do not give an accurate picture of future enrollment, especially since the district had an influx of students this year from throughout the country, he said.