What started as a pilot program in 2023 has quickly evolved into a strong partnership, changing literacy outcomes in Hamilton County.

Following a significantly successful academic year, the Literacy First tutoring program is set to expand again for the 2025-26 school year. Hamilton County Schools, in partnership with Chattanooga 2.0 and others, aims to reach even more students and ensure access to high-quality, in-school literacy tutoring across Hamilton County.

Dr. Justin Robertson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools, recognized the impact of the previous expansion: “Last year, we were excited to scale up Literacy First to 11 new schools. Now, we are seeing the payoff. Students who need it most are achieving real, measurable gains in literacy.”

From fall to spring in the 2024-25 school year, Hamilton County tutors worked with nearly 550 kindergarten and first-grade students through the Literacy First program. According to evaluation data, these kindergarten students academically grew 27 percent more than their peers, while first graders made nearly twice as much progress as classmates who did not receive tutoring. In all, 91 students who began the year below grade level met grade-level expectations after tutoring.

“This program is not just about tutoring—it’s about building an educational foundation for lifelong learning,” Robertson said.

Chattanooga 2.0 and partners are looking to capitalize on the encouraging results of this tutoring approach; they are expanding the program to more schools and supporting more children, including those at Brown Academy, Montessori Elementary at Highland Park, and several AmeriCorps member schools.

This is the first school year Brown Academy has adopted the Literacy First program, thanks to an innovative approach from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. “It was an easy call to get UTC involved with a tutoring program that has already seen such great results,” said Dr. Allen Pratt, director of the UTC Center for Excellence and Innovation in Education.

UTC has contributed funds and recruited five teacher candidates to serve as Literacy First tutors at Brown Academy. Hamilton County Schools will support school-level implementation and provide coaching, while Chattanooga 2.0 will coordinate the partnership, raise additional philanthropic support, and manage the Literacy First contact.

“We’re very excited for UTC’s teacher candidates to step into these innovative roles and make a lasting impact on literacy in Chattanooga while UTC deepens its relationship with Hamilton County Schools,” Pratt said.

Once trained, tutors will work one-on-one with students during the school day, using the structured Literacy First curriculum and progress monitoring tools.

This expansion is not limited to traditional public schools, as Chattanooga public charter school Montessori Elementary at Highland Park also initiated the new tutoring model for 2025-26. Dr. Elaine Swafford, executive director of the Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence, said, “At Montessori Elementary, we believe in meeting students where they are to support their growth.”

The dedicated faculty at Montessori Elementary will manage all aspects of the program, from curriculum and student selection to coordination with Literacy First for training. Chattanooga 2.0 will provide support through consultation and assistance in evaluating program outcomes.

“We see Literacy First as an opportunity to identify which students could use extra help and come prepared with a tried-and-true program to support them,” Swafford said.

As a testament to Chattanooga’s strong commitment to literacy, Chattanooga 2.0 was recently awarded an AmeriCorps State grant through Volunteer Tennessee. This grant made it possible to form a Literacy First tutoring cohort for this academic year. This new initiative will place 14 AmeriCorps members in four high-need elementary schools: Calvin Donaldson, East Side, Hardy and Spring Creek.

Hamilton County Schools will host the program at each site, managing student selection, scheduling and coaching, while Chattanooga 2.0 will oversee program management and training. Chattanooga 2.0 will also ensure the program’s compliance with state and federal requirements and coordinate data collection and evaluation.

“We’re very excited to expand access to Literacy First tutoring,” said Brandon Hubbard-Heitz, chief strategy officer of Chattanooga 2.0. “By leveraging a strong public-private partnership with Hamilton County Schools and local funders, we are turning shared resources into measurable outcomes for children and moving closer to our community’s goal of 70 percent of third- through fifth-grade students reading on grade level by 2030.” The Literacy First program is a public-private partnership made possible through generous support from the Maclellan Foundation, Benwood Foundation, Tucker Foundation, Howard Fund and the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga. The program also receives special sponsorship support for Woodmore Elementary from the Grandview Foundation and for Clifton Hills Elementary from the Geoffrey Sidney Cohn Fund.

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