SEPTEMBER 2025
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
by Judy Newman
There are lots of things going on in America today. But for me, one of the most wonderful—and important events—is that kids in America are heading back to school.
Back-to-school season is a fresh start for children who are moving into a new class. And for their teachers and administrators who are (mostly) buoyant with all the possibilities ahead for the new students in their classrooms. And for their families, who are excited to see what new skills their children will learn and how they will grow from now through the end of the school year.
For me, every new school year is an opportunity to set the following three goals:
Every child must have yearlong access to choose and own their own books and develop their choosing muscles and self-confidence as readers.
Every classroom teacher needs the resources to support their students’ literacy development, which comes both from teaching children how to read and giving them the opportunity to practice their reading with books they choose that motivate them.
All families and caregivers need relatable, accessible resources and affirmations to support their children’s literacy development, regardless of their own levels of literacy.
I have worked in children’s book publishing—specifically with classroom-to-home book club programs—for decades. Based on research and a two-year pilot in every US state (plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico) with 48,000 students, I know that Scholastic’s new program, the United States of Readers (USoR), can achieve these three goals in a sustainable, scalable way. And we can do it quickly because we know the program works.
Once the USoR is adopted by a school, it serves as a foundation that attracts other programs and interventions that support the literacy growth and overall well-being of every child in the school equally. No one is left out.
At the United States of Readers, which we developed at Scholastic, and is delivered by a new nonprofit Impact Reading, we are moving fast to bring this program to the 10 million children living in poverty and attending under-resourced schools in the US. We need to act with urgency because we don’t want to waste any more time.
All kids need to learn how to read, through the Science of Reading or whatever curriculum works for their school. But once they learn how to read, they need to practice their reading with titles they choose that motivate them to read. We know from extensive research that when kids choose their own books—books which interest them and in which they see themselves reflected—they read more.
Sending best wishes for a happy, healthy, and successful new school year filled with lots of brand-new books. It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year.
If you are interested in joining our movement, please contact me at judynewman@impactreading.org.
Judy •
Judy Newman, Chief Impact Officer, Scholastic