The Reading Center

What The Reading Center does

The Reading Center is a privately-held, founder-owned literacy services organization headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, founded in 2007 by Dr. Kendra N. DeWalt. The company delivers clinical, cognitive literacy intervention using evidence-based methodologies, including Orton-Gillingham techniques combined with personalized, multi-sensory prescriptive instruction tailored to individual cognitive development, oral language development, and instructional needs profiles. Its proprietary technology consists of the DeWalt Model — a three-tiered TRAIN-DEVELOP-SUSTAIN implementation framework paired with a stage-based coaching model — and a comprehensive assessment battery that evaluates how cognitive development, oral language, and instruction interplay to impact reading and comprehension.

The Reading Center serves three customer segments: (1) Students & Families (ages 6+) receiving testing, intervention, case management, tutoring, and family advocacy on a self-pay basis with no insurance acceptance; (2) Schools & Districts receiving program evaluation, literacy improvement plans, professional learning workshops, executive leadership coaching, curriculum development, and grant writing support through the TRAIN-DEVELOP-SUSTAIN methodology; and (3) Community-Based Organizations receiving program evaluation, training, strategic planning, and grant writing services. Revenue is generated entirely through professional services fee-for-service contracts, with multi-year agreements for continuity. Distribution is direct and consultation-based, delivered primarily at the Columbia, SC headquarters with mobile services for partner schools and districts, and reach spans the U.S. East Coast.

The organization operates with 16 employees, is bootstrapped with no institutional funding, and reports cumulative impact across approximately 100,000 students and thousands of teachers and leaders over its 17+ year history. A flagship southwest Georgia district partnership covering 33,000 students attracted over $20 million in grant funding and produced state-recognized literacy gains, serving as the company's principal reference engagement.

Name

The Reading Center

Legal name

The Reading Center

Website

https://trcservices.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Reading Center is a privately-held, founder-owned literacy services organization founded in 2007 in Columbia, SC. It delivers clinical, cognitive literacy intervention and consulting services to students and families, K-12 schools and districts, and community-based organizations across the U.S. East Coast.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Services / Literacy Intervention

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Reading Intervention & Remediation (Decoding, Fluency, Comprehension) (EDAKAJAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Literacy & Reading Intervention (Phonics, Fluency, Comprehension) (EDAKADAA), Reading & Literacy Centers (Phonics, Comprehension, Writing) (EDANAHAD)

Keywords

• Literacy intervention services
• Reading remediation
• Dyslexia support
• Educational consulting
• Literacy assessment

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Literacy Intervention & Remediation Services: Fee-for-service prescriptive, multi-sensory literacy services provided to students and adults (ages 6 and up) who demonstrate need for additional support in one or more areas of literacy. Services are prioritized based on individual applicant needs and space availability. All clients enter into contractual agreements for continuity of services.
2. Testing & Evaluation Services: Comprehensive assessment services for families with students who may be underperforming academically. Testing may require multiple visits. Self-pay model with no insurance acceptance.
3. School & District Consulting Services: Customized strategic planning, professional learning workshops, literacy improvement plans, executive leadership coaching, curriculum development, and grant writing support for schools and districts seeking to improve literacy outcomes.
4. Community Partnership Services: Program evaluation, training and support, workshops, strategic planning, community taskforce training, and grant writing services for community-based organizations focused on improving educational outcomes.
5. Case Management & Family Support: Academic case management support for students identified as learning disabled requiring accommodations or modifications, as well as family advocacy services for navigating goals, accommodations, and modifications for school-age and postsecondary students.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Reading Center provides fee-for-service prescriptive literacy intervention and remediation to students and adults (ages 6+) using a clinical, cognitive approach grounded in Orton-Gillingham and multi-sensory methodologies. For schools, districts, and community-based organizations, it delivers consulting services including needs assessments, professional learning, executive coaching, curriculum development, and grant writing support, executed through its proprietary DeWalt Model (TRAIN, DEVELOP, SUSTAIN).

Product overview

The Reading Center is a service-based literacy organization offering a portfolio of complementary service modules organized across three client segments: Students & Families, Schools & Districts, and Community Partners. The core student-facing services include Testing & Evaluation, Literacy Intervention & Remediation, Case Management & Support, Family Support & Advocacy, and Tutoring. For institutional clients (Schools & Districts), The Reading Center provides Program Evaluation/Needs Assessments, Literacy Improvement Plans, Professional Learning, Executive Leadership Coaching, Curriculum Development, and Grant Writing Support, delivered through the TRAIN, DEVELOP, SUSTAIN methodology. For Community Partners, the offerings include Program Evaluation, Training & Support, Grant Writing, Workshops & Training, and Strategic Planning. The center operates a clinical, cognitive approach and was founded in 2007, expanded to include school/district services in 2017, added grant writing in 2018, rebranded in 2019, and launched the Community Partnerships division in 2020.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Testing & Evaluation Comprehensive battery of assessments designed to determine how cognitive development, oral language development, and instruction impact an individual's ability to read and comprehend texts. Targeted at students ages 6 and up who may be underperforming academically, and delivered on a self-pay basis without insurance acceptance.
• Literacy Intervention & Remediation Prescriptive, multi-sensory literacy services for students and adults ages 6 and up who need additional support in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Delivered via Orton-Gillingham and other evidence-based methodologies under contractual agreements.
• Case Management & Family Advocacy Combined offering of academic case management for students identified as learning disabled who require accommodations or modifications, plus family advocacy support for navigating goals, accommodations, and modifications for school-age and postsecondary students.
• School & District Literacy Improvement Program Comprehensive needs assessments, customized literacy improvement plans, professional learning workshops, executive leadership coaching, curriculum development, and grant writing support, delivered through the proprietary TRAIN, DEVELOP, SUSTAIN methodology for K-12 schools and districts.
• Grant Writing Support for Schools & Districts Grant writing support to help schools, districts, and organizations secure external funding to provide sustainable, results-driven literacy instruction.
• Community Partnerships Program Program evaluation, training and support, workshops, strategic planning, community taskforce training, and grant writing for community-based organizations seeking to improve educational outcomes and experiences for students and families within their communities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reading proficiency rates improved rapidly and dramatically in partnered districts
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Learning Ally: Nonprofit providing audiobooks, literacy resources, and educator professional development focused on students with reading deficits, including dyslexia. Partial overlap with the Reading Center's student intervention and family advocacy segments.

Direct peers

• Wilson Language Training: Developer of the Wilson Reading System, a structured-literacy/Orton-Gillingham-aligned program widely used in K-12 schools and districts for reading intervention and dyslexia remediation. Competes with the Reading Center for district professional learning and intervention mandates.
• Really Great Reading: Provider of reading intervention curricula, assessments, and professional development for K-12 schools focused on phonemic awareness, decoding, and fluency. Comparable to the Reading Center's school/district service line and prescriptive intervention model.
• Reading Recovery: Widely adopted short-term early literacy intervention delivered by trained teachers in K-1 classrooms. Overlaps with the Reading Center's foundational reading intervention and remediation services for struggling readers.
• Neuhaus Education Center: Houston-based nonprofit providing evidence-based literacy professional development and intervention grounded in structured literacy/Orton-Gillingham methods. Comparable to the Reading Center on professional learning for educators and prescriptive student intervention.
• Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes: National provider of multi-sensory literacy intervention, tutoring, and professional learning for students with reading difficulties, including dyslexia. Direct competitor to the Reading Center's core student-and-family intervention offering and its Orton-Gillingham-aligned methodology.
• Institute of Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE): Orton-Gillingham training and structured-literacy professional development provider serving schools, districts, and educators. Closely comparable to the Reading Center's professional learning workshops and TRAIN-DEVELOP-SUSTAIN-style coaching framework.

Broad incumbents

• Lexia Learning (Cambium Learning Group): Large-scale K-12 reading instruction and assessment platform serving schools and districts nationally. Competes for district literacy improvement contracts that the Reading Center also pursues, but at greater scale and with a technology-delivered model.
• Voyager Sopris Learning: Provider of literacy, math, and professional learning solutions for K-12 schools and districts. Comparable on the school/district side of the Reading Center's business but operating across a broader portfolio and geographic footprint.
• Curriculum Associates (iReady): Major K-12 assessment and instruction provider whose iReady Diagnostic and Personalized Instruction are widely adopted for reading intervention. A potential substitute vendor for districts the Reading Center targets for program evaluation and improvement plans.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TheReadingCenterSC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-reading-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Reading Center