In the community of Jasper, a rural city just northwest of Birmingham, Alabama, students have already seen success with Learning Without Tears’ newest reading program, Phonics, Reading, and Me™.

More than 450 of the region’s students attend T.R. Simmons Elementary School, where educators were beginning to see gaps in students’ reading skills that stood out to them. Angela Harbin, a reading specialist at the school, said they were looking for a literacy program that supported their existing curriculum by building foundational skills that would last through the later grades.