Kids & Teachers Need Our Support More Than Ever

Catch Up & Read was founded on the belief that EVERY child deserves high-quality, equitable education. Catch Up & Read’s program is designed to assure success for economically disadvantaged students and is especially focused on students of color from historically underserved and marginalized communities. 

Focused on each child as an individual, Catch Up & Read designs customized learning plans based on each child’s specific learning needs and leverages a curriculum that is culturally relevant to our diverse students’ heritage. Over 70% of DISD students are Hispanic, and Catch Up & Read is one of the few literacy programs that provides services in both Spanish and English. 

For students whose first language is Spanish, Catch Up & Read provides reading instruction in their native language first to meet them where they are and build confidence. Catch Up & Read’s staff includes certified teachers specializing in literacy, including several focused on bilingual education. 

Catch Up & Read promotes diversity, equity inclusion and belonging throughout its organization, lifting up a rich diversity across its team. Catch Up & Read promotes inclusion across student and teacher selection, recruiting and retention of staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. Catch Up & Read is committed to providing an inclusive, welcoming and respectful environment for all members of the staff, school partners, volunteers, subcontractors and vendors. We work to build belonging through appreciation, recognition and the honoring of diverse voices. 

Did you know? 

• Students are four times less likely to graduate by age 19 if they do not learn how to read by the end of third grade, and when compounded with experiencing poverty, they are 13 times less likely to earn their diploma on time (Annie E. Casey Foundation). Lacking a high school diploma leads to limited opportunities in adulthood, including lower employment rates, lower wages and even higher incarceration rates (National Bureau of Economic Research). 
• Third grade is a pivotal reading level because it is the final year children are “learning to read” before they begin “reading to learn.” If students are not proficient readers by fourth grade, they will not be able to apply their reading skills to comprehending other subjects.
• And it ends up that popular teaching methods have been part of the problem. You may have read the shocking recent headlines or heard the Sold a Story podcast about how reading instruction across our nation has been erroneously guiding educators away from phonics for the past 30 years. It’s had disastrous effects.
• Catch Up & Read, a transformative organization that I'm proud to work with, is participating in North Texas Giving Day on September 21st. With a challenge grant of $100,000, every donation made will be DOUBLED!
• Will you help a child learn to read by making a gift today?
• Like me, I know how much your heart breaks to see a child struggle to read. But with your gift, YOU can help make a lasting difference in the life of a child.