Literacy Tree

Closing Reading Gaps and Building Lasting Literacy Support

For Adam and Stephanie Newman, the mission behind Literacy Tree began close to home.

Their son Zac’s struggles with reading led the husband-and-wife team to combine their experiences and build a solution to a challenge they saw affecting students far beyond their own family. Stephanie’s background as an ELA teacher in inner-city New York schools and Adam’s journey as a social entrepreneur shaped their belief that more students should have access to the support they need to become confident readers.

Literacy Tree is working to close multi-year reading gaps in one school year through an evidence-based, live virtual program that provides small-group instruction led by certified literacy specialists. The program is designed to deliver a full year of reading growth every 12 weeks, with outcomes backed by a financial guarantee.

But the goal extends beyond helping students make immediate progress. Literacy Tree also equips schools with an AI-powered platform that helps their own educators sustain and replicate literacy gains over time.

By combining targeted student support with tools that build school capacity, Literacy Tree aims to help more students close reading gaps while giving schools a way to continue that progress long after the initial intervention.