What started as a pilot program in 2023 has quickly evolved into a strong partnership, changing literacy outcomes in Hamilton County.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2025
Media Contact:
Brandon Hubbard-Heitz
brandon@chatt2.org
Chattanooga, TN – Following a significant academic year of progress, the Literacy First tutoring program is set to expand again for the 2025–2026 school year. Hamilton County Schools, in partnership with Chattanooga 2.0 and others, aims to reach even more students, ensuring access to high-quality, in-school literacy tutoring across Hamilton County.
Building on the success of Chattanooga 2.0’s pilot at East Side Elementary in the 2023–2024 academic year, Hamilton County Schools (HCS) scaled the program to 11 new schools during the 2024–2025 academic year. Dr. Justin Robertson, Superintendent of HCS, reflected on the impact: “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.” He added, “This program is not just about tutoring—it’s about building an educational foundation for lifelong learning.”
From fall to spring in the 2024–2025 school year, Hamilton County tutors worked with nearly 550 kindergarten and first-grade students through the Literacy First program. According to evaluation data, kindergarten students who received tutoring 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 receiving tutoring. Research shows that intervening in kindergarten through second grade is more effective and less costly than remediation in later years, underscoring the program’s focus on the earliest grades. Looking ahead, Chattanooga 2.0 and partners are capitalizing on the success of this tutoring approach, continuing to expand to more schools and support more children:
Brown Academy
Thanks to an innovative approach from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), a new collaboration between UTC, Chattanooga 2.0, and HCS will introduce the Literacy First tutoring model at Brown Academy for the 2025–2026 school year.
“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. “We’re very excited for UTC’s teacher candidate to step into these innovative roles and make a lasting impact on literacy in Chattanooga while UTC deepens its relationship with Hamilton County Schools.”
UTC has contributed funds and recruited five teacher candidates to serve as Literacy First Tutors at Brown Academy. HCS 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. Once trained, tutors will work one-on-one with students during the school day, using the structured Literacy First curriculum and progress monitoring tools.
Montessori Elementary at Highland Park
This expansion is not just limited to traditional public schools. Chattanooga public charter school Montessori Elementary at Highland Park has partnered with Chattanooga 2.0 to launch the Literary First tutoring model for the 2025–2026 school year.
“At Montessori Elementary, we believe in meeting students where they are to support their growth,” said Dr. Elaine Swafford, Executive Director of the Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence. “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.”
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 support through consultation and assistance in evaluating program outcomes.
AmeriCorps
Further strengthening the region’s commitment to literacy, Chattanooga 2.0 was recently awarded an AmeriCorps State grant through Volunteer Tennessee to launch a Literacy First tutoring cohort for the 2025–2026 school year. This new initiative will place 14 AmeriCorps members in four high-need elementary schools:
- Calvin Donaldson
- East Side
- Hardy
- Spring Creek
HCS will host the program at each site, managing student selection, scheduling, and coaching, while Chattanooga 2.0 will oversee program management, training, compliance with state and federal requirements as well as 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.
For more information on Chattanooga 2.0’s literacy work and how to get involved, visit https://chatt2.org/literacy/.
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About Chattanooga 2.0
Chattanooga 2.0 was established in 2016 and is a small nonprofit that works to change systems in order to impact generational changes in Chattanooga and Hamilton County, TN. The ultimate goal is to improve economic opportunity and quality of life — and Chattanooga 2.0 believes education attainment is the first step. From early childhood education to the attainment of a thriving wage career, the small team leads initiatives to remove systemic barriers and provide intentional supports to children, students, and their families. For more information, visit chatt2.org.
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