“We’ve seen firsthand what’s possible when teachers have the tools, training, and support to help every child become a stronger reader. The progress at our Orange Mound campus shows that meaningful gains in literacy are possible, and now we have an opportunity to build on that success across our other campuses. With the Foundation’s support, we’re helping Memphis students develop the reading skills they need to succeed in life.”

~Kristi Baird, Executive Director, Compass Community Schools

Partners in classrooms and across the state are working to help Memphis students strengthen reading skills, graduate, and prepare for successful careers.

Hyde Family Foundation’s Q3 2026 funding cycle awards more than $1.8 million to 15 community partners. Two-thirds of that total, more than $1.2 million across 10 grants, supports education partners working in Memphis schools and at the state level.

“A child’s success depends on a lot of people getting things right: the teacher who teaches her to read, the principal who coaches that teacher, and the leaders who set policy for her school. This cycle supports partners at every level. We fund work in specific schools to learn what works, and we fund partners statewide who can help make sure it reaches every Memphis student.”

Barbara Hyde, chair and CEO, Hyde Family Foundation

Reading proficiently by the end of third grade is one of the strongest predictors of a student’s likelihood of graduating and pursuing a successful career. This cycle’s education grant supports approaches to literacy that can expand across multiple campuses, while also strengthening our teachers, principals, and systems:

• Compass Community Schools aims to raise K-3 reading proficiency across all five of its elementary campuses to 90% by 2030 through the North Star Project, a partnership with Memphis Teacher Residency. A pilot at its Orange Mound campus increased the share of kindergartners reading proficiently from 33% to 77% in two years.
• Journey Community Schools, with campuses in Hickory Hill, Raleigh and Sycamore View, is in the third year of a five-year literacy plan built around intervention specialists who work with students reading below grade level.
• ALLMemphis, whose curriculum is part of Journey’s plan, will train leadership teams from three more charter schools to coach strong reading instruction.
• Aurora Collegiate Academy in Berclair will add a third fellow to its program that trains new teachers inside the school before they lead a classroom.
• The Principal Learning Center will welcome its third cohort of principals to its year-long instructional leaders fellowship.
• EveryDay Labs will bring its attendance strategies and data support services to four single-site charter schools working to better leverage their data and reduce absenteeism.