We are SO excited to tell you about a new development around here…

What is Redwood GROW? It’s Redwood’s non-profit wing born out of a desire to see research-based, structured reading intervention brought to children across the city of Chicago for FREE. We’ve been working hard to make it more and more affordable, but for FREE? How can this be accomplished?

After wrestling with this question and having lots of conversations with Chicago teachers, families and administrators, we had an idea! What if we funded and supported the certification of those who are already providing education to students every day, regardless of economic standing: Chicago Public School teachers! By equipping these incredible individuals with incredible literacy intervention tools, children with dyslexia and other literacy-based learning struggles can receive the intervention they need during their school day, for FREE.

Redwood GROW will be funded by Redwood Day, our full-day school program, and donations from private foundations and people like you! 100% of the funds donated to Redwood GROW will go to training teachers, setting up classrooms with curriculum and paying stipends to participating teachers each year they submit data of the students’ growth.

We plan to start SMALL and LOCALLY for the 2019-2020 school year. We have already partnered with New Field Elementary, our amazing neighborhood school about a 5-minute walk from Redwood. They are officially our first partner school! We are working on solidifying one additional partner school in our Rogers Park neighborhood and will pilot the program in June 2019. We will be sending between 5-10 teachers to Wilson Reading System training over the summer and then supporting them in beginning their year-long practicum for the 2019-2020 school year.

If you are excited about this and want to be a part, please reach out! Email Kait with your questions, thoughts and ideas. There is a literacy crisis across our city and if we continue working together, I believe there can be a change. Every little thing makes a change. Will you be a part?