About Once

Students will learn to read with Once — and they will only need it once.

Once combines the Science of Reading, the structured design of our literacy sequence, and the power of individual attention — so every child becomes a fluent, independent reader by grade 3.

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Our mission

Once’s mission is to deliver early-reading instruction that accelerates every child toward a life full of the opportunity, connection, meaning, and joy that come from being a successful reader.

Our vision

By the end of 1st grade, every child reads fluently and independently at a mid-2nd grade level. They are absorbed in captivating fictional book series and explore their interests in non-fiction, limited only by what they can find in their home, classroom, school, and local libraries. In class, they read off the board and on worksheets, so if they momentarily lose attention in class they can catch back up without distracting the teacher or the rest of the class. Teachers in 2nd and 3rd grade are able to teach grade level content without needing to do deep fluency remediation, and students begin to build the core knowledge required for them to learn in any subject area for the rest of their lives. Special ed referrals decrease substantially from decades before as the single largest cause of these referrals, dyslexia, has been prevented in more children than ever before.

How did they get here? Some parents and caregivers taught their children to read before they even started kindergarten, through structured, systematic, evidence-based daily instruction. Others received this type of intervention in preschool and in kindergarten and 1st grade during the school day from school staff members and even older peers. Others got everything they needed from full class Tier I instruction, and still others (a relatively small proportion) entered kindergarten reading fluently and independently, without any formal instruction at home or in school.

Regardless of their path, students enter 2nd grade reading to learn in a way prior generations had only dreamed about.

Once's story characters — a ram and a rat

Our origin

Born from a pandemic classroom of one

Once was born in the early pandemic when schools closed and our founders taught their kindergarten-age children to read at home — just 15 minutes a day. Within a year the kids were reading fluently, squirreling away in corners of the house for days with their newfound treasures from the library.

Former teachers themselves, the founders knew firsthand how hard it is to differentiate phonics instruction in a classroom. They wondered: what if every child could learn to read one-on-one, side-by-side with a trusted adult — in kindergarten or 1st grade? That question became Once: an early reading program and curriculum that any adult can use to teach a 3 to 7 year old to read.

Our values