For the past year, Sarah Morris has been getting a group of special needs students at Niagara Street Elementary School to learn to read without having to bark out one order.

Principal Paulette Pierce said that’s because a black, 75-pound therapy dog has all 15 pupils in teacher Diana Jeckovich’s special education class wrapped around her little paw.

“The kids love her,” Pierce says.

Sarah and her owner, Debbie Morris, come to school every Monday afternoon to check on how these kindergarten through second-graders are progressing with their reading skills.

“Sarah’s proven to be a great motivator,” Pierce explains.

“Sarah and Debbie come in and work with the kids two at a time. They go into a little room, sit on a mat on the floor and read to Sarah while Debbie’s there to help if a child stumbles over any words,” Pierce said. “It has proved to be very motivating and effective. These are special needs children who have a hard time focusing, paying attention and staying on task. They have difficulty with reading. But Sarah presents a big incentive for them to work hard on their reading skills. We’ve seen a lot of improvement because of it.”

She said the dog has motivated the children to practice their reading a lot more in school and at home “because they want to be able to read o Sarah. They want to read fluently and they want to read well because they know Sarah will be listening.”

And even if a child can’t read all the words in the book he’s working on or is still learning, Pierce said it allows each pupil to show Sarah the title and tell her about the book as they turn the pages because they want to speak to her. The dog is so popular and the kids look so forward to seeing her that Jeckovich has her picture hanging up in the classroom and on the classroom door.

“It’s a big deal for them,” Pierce said.

One Monday with Jeckovich’s class confirms Pierce’s assertions.

The children love to pet, kiss and hug the mild-mannered dog as much as read to her.

While his reading partner, Lawquan Johnson, 7, reads the book “Friends in the Stars” to Sarah, Jayvian Seright, 6, suddenly kisses Sarah on the forehead as he pets and combs her coat.

Dominika Barber, 6, who is half Sarah’s size, hugs her around the neck and puts her right cheek flush against Sarah’s face as her reading partner, Tiffany Davis, 6, reads the book “What Has Feet.” Amazingly, Sarah sits relaxed, enjoys the attention and perks up her ears here and there, apparently paying attention to the most important passages of each book.

First-grader Mikeer Bloom, 6, is not shy about saying why Sarah is so important to him and his classmates.

After doing a great job reading Sarah “Go Away Lilly,” Mikeer asked Sarah to sit and shake his hand before he gave her a snack. Then he said, “My favorite thing in school is to read to Sarah. I practice a lot at home for her ... l like Sarah because she’s a good dog and she listens when we read her a book. Sarah likes all of us and she helps me learn to read because she likes me.”

Jeckovich may be the happiest camper of all.

“We bring Sarah in (about 90 minutes a week) because its gives the kids something to look forward to. Sarah has been able to get them really interested in learning to read and it has helped considerably,” Jeckovich said. She said the improvements can’t be contested.

“I have kids that didn’t know how to look at a book and now they do it all the time,” she said. “They pick books out of the library. They color books. They take books home and read them every night and then read them to us during the day. They practice and practice so they can read well to Sarah. Then on Mondays, they get to read a book to Sarah. I’ve noticed a big improvement in their reading since Sarah’s been here to motivate them. It’s helped out so much — it really has — it has increased their vocabulary because they are being exposed to more words and more books. It’s helped all around in a lot of areas” including behavior and the ability to focus. “Now we are pushing in to the writing and we’ll see if Sarah can help us with that.”

It appears Sarah’s owner Morris, a retired West Seneca Spanish teacher, already sees the writing on the wall.

“I’ve noticed a big difference,” Morris said of the current program. “The difficulty in the books they read are up a level and I can tell they are really practicing at home because I’ve seen a great improvement.”

Morris added the children “no longer give up on a book just because it’s difficult. The show a lot of effort.”

Pierce said she is grateful to Morris, a friend, for telling her about the reading dog program and volunteering to bring Sarah in.

Talking to Pierce, it sounds like the students aren’t the only ones getting something out of the experience.

“Debbie did it because she missed working with children and wanted to contribute and give back to the community.”