April 2005 — School Specialty Publishing and the Wendy Pye Group have reached an agreement to market and distribute the AWARD Reading, Math, and Professional Development programs. The AWARD family of products focuses on the Kindergarten through Grade 3 school market and meets the criteria for No Child Left Behind. The Wendy Pye Group was represented by the investment banking firm Whitestone Communications, Inc., in negotiations with School Specialty.
"The AWARD program will enable School Specialty Publishing to immediately offer a 21st century quality reading curriculum to schools. Beyond the curriculum, teachers and administrators are going to love the assessment, technology, and professional development tools that are offered with this program," reported School Specialty Publishing President Vincent Douglas, who also pointed out that there is a market potential of 780,000 classrooms in Grades K-3 in the United States.
"This series combines the best learning methods of printed material with the best of interactive technology," states Managing Director Wendy Pye, MBE.
Wendy Pye is an internationally renowned reading expert responsible for the development of over 1,800 titles with over 190 million units sold worldwide. She is best known as the publisher of Sunshine Books, which contributed to the significant growth and success of The Wright Group. The Wright Group was purchased by the Tribune Companies in 1997 and subsequently by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Sunshine Books are still enjoyed by millions of children today."
About School Specialty Publishing
School Specialty Publishing, a division of School Specialty, Inc., is the premier educational publisher for the retail and educational dealer markets, operating nine imprints which target a variety of audiences, particularly teachers and parents. Its nearly 6,000 products include educational games, workbooks, manipulatives, puzzles, reference books, picture books, fiction and non-fiction juvenile literature titles, and more. A complete listing of product book categories can be found at www.SchoolSpecialtyPublishing.com.
About School Specialty, Inc.
School Specialty, Inc. is an education company that provides products, services and ideas that enhance student achievement and development for educators and schools across the United States and Canada. School Specialty's family of brands serves more than 118,000 schools throughout the United States and Canada with a comprehensive range of more than 85,000 products and services. School Specialty's family of brands includes School Specialty Publishing, School Specialty Education Essentials, Classroom Direct, Califone, Childcraft, abc School Supply, Sportime, Abilitations, Brodhead Garrett, Sax Family & Consumer Sciences, Frey Scientific, Sunburst Visual Media, Teacher's Media Company, Premier, Hammond & Stephens and Sax Arts & Crafts. Each serves educators and curriculum specialists in curriculum-specific offerings developed with and inspired by educators.
