Scholastic Corporation
FormerlyScholastic Inc. (1981–2011)
TypePublic
Nasdaq: SCHL
S&P 600 Component
IndustryChildren's literacy and education
FoundedOctober 22, 1920 (1920-10-22)
Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
FounderMaurice Robinson
HeadquartersScholastic Building
557 Broadway, New York City, New York 10012,
United States
Key people
Peter Warwick, CEO, president; Kenneth Cleary, CFO
ProductsBooks, magazines, pre-K to grade 12 instructional programs, classroom magazines, films, television
RevenueIncrease US$1.6 billion (2016)[1]
Number of employees
8,900 (2019)[2]
DivisionsImprints and corporate divisions
Websitewww.scholastic.com

Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. Products are distributed via retail and online sales and through schools via reading clubs and book fairs. Clifford the Big Red Dog, a character created by Norman Bridwell in 1963, serves as Scholastic's official mascot.

Company history

Richard Robinson served as the corporation's CEO and president from 1975 until his death in 2021

Scholastic was founded in 1920 by Maurice R. Robinson near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to be a publisher of youth magazines. The first publication was The Western Pennsylvania Scholastic. It covered high school sports and social activities; the four-page magazine debuted on October 22, 1920, and was distributed in 50 high schools.[3] In the 1940s, Scholastic entered the book club business. In the 1960s, scholastic international publishing locations were added in England 1964, New Zealand 1964, and Sydney 1968.[4] Also in the 1960s, Scholastic entered the book publishing business. In the 1970s, Scholastic created its TV entertainment division.[3] From 1975 until his death in 2021, Richard Robinson, who was the son of the corporation's founder, served as CEO and president.[5] In 2000, Scholastic purchased Grolier for US$400 million.[6][7] Scholastic became involved in a video collection in 2001. In February 2012, Scholastic bought Weekly Reader Publishing from Reader's Digest Association, and announced in July 2012 that it planned to discontinue separate issues of Weekly Reader magazines after more than a century of publication, and co-branded the magazines as Scholastic News/Weekly Reader.[8] Scholastic sold READ 180 to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2015. in December 2015, Scholastic launched the Scholastic Reads Podcasts. On October 22 2020, Scholastic celebrated its 100th anniversary. In 2005, Scholastic developed FASTT Math with Tom Snyder to help students with their proficiency with math skills, specifically being multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction through a series of games and memorization quizzes gauging the student's progress. In 2013, Scholastic developed System 44 with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to help students encourage reading skills. In 2011, Scholastic developed READ 180 with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to help students understand their reading skills. Scholastic Reference publishes reference books.

Company structure

The business has three segments: Children Book Publishing & Distribution Trade, Book Clubs, and Book Fairs, Education, and International. Scholastic holds the perpetual US publishing rights to the Harry Potter and Hunger Games book series.[9][10] Scholastic is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and print and digital educational materials for pre-K to grade 12.[11] In addition to Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, Scholastic is known for its school book clubs and book fairs, classroom magazines such as Scholastic News and Science World, and popular book series: Clifford the Big Red Dog, Goosebumps, Horrible Histories, Captain Underpants, Animorphs, The Baby-Sitters Club, and I Spy. Scholastic also publishes instructional reading and writing programs, and offers professional learning and consultancy services for school improvement. Clifford the Big Red Dog serves as the official mascot of Scholastic.[12]

Marketing initiatives

The Scholastic Art & Writing awards was Founded in 1923 by Maurice R. Robinson, The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards,[13] administered by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, is a competition which recognizes talented young artists and writers from across the United States.[14]

The success and enduring legacy of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards can be attributed in part to its well-planned and executed marketing initiatives. These efforts have allowed the competition to adapt to the changing times, connect with a wider audience, and continue its mission of nurturing the creative potential of the nation's youth.

Imprints and corporate divisions

  • Trade Publishing Imprints include:
    • Arthur A. Levine Books, which specializes in fiction and non-fiction books for young readers. The imprint was founded at Scholastic in 1996 by Arthur Levine in New York City. The first book published by Arthur A. Levine Books was When She Was Good by Norma Fox Mazer in autumn of 1997. The imprint is most notable as the publisher for the American editions of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.[15][16][17] In March 2019, Levine left Scholastic to form his own new publisher. Scholastic will retain Levine's back catalogue.[18]
    • The Chicken House
    • Graphix, a graphic novel imprint started in 2005.[19]
    • Klutz Press
    • Orchard Books
    • Scholastic Australia - made up of Koala Books, Margaret Hamilton Books, Omnibus Books, and Scholastic Corporation.[20]
  • Children's Press (spelled Childrens Press from 1945 to 1996) - founded in 1945,[21] and originally headquartered in 1224 West Van Buren Street, Chicago, Illinois until its acquisition by Grolier in 1995, this press published various publications such as the Rookie Read-About series, A True Book series, Young People's series (Young People's Animal Encyclopedia by Maurice Burton, Young People's Science Encyclopedia, New Frontiers in Science and Young People's Science Dictionary by the staff of National College of Education (now National Louis University), Young People's Illustrated Encyclopedia, and Young People's World) and also has a secondary imprint, Franklin Watts.

In 2005, Scholastic developed FASTT Math with Tom Snyder to help students with their proficiency with math skills, specifically being multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction through a series of games and memorization quizzes gauging the student's progress.[22] In 2013, Scholastic developed System 44 with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to help students encourage reading skills. In 2011, Scholastic developed READ 180 with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to help students understand their reading skills. Scholastic Reference publishes reference books.[23][24]

Scholastic Entertainment

Scholastic Entertainment (formerly Scholastic Productions and Scholastic Media) is a corporate division[25] led by Deborah Forte since 1995. It covers "all forms of media and consumer products, and is comprised of four main groups – Productions, Marketing & Consumer Products, Interactive, and Audio." Weston Woods is its production studio, acquired in 1996, as was Soup2Nuts (best known for Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, Science Court and Home Movies) from 2001 to 2015 before shutting down.[26] Scholastic has produced audiobooks such as the Caldecott/Newbery Collection;[27] Television adaptations such as Clifford the Big Red Dog, Clifford's Puppy Days, Clifford the Big Red Dog (2019), Maya & Miguel, WordGirl, Turbo Dogs, Animorphs, The Magic School Bus, Voyagers!, My Secret Identity, The Baby-Sitters Club, Charles in Charge, The Magic School Bus Rides Again, I Spy, Goosebumps, His Dark Materials, Stillwater, Puppy Place, Eva the Owlet, Goosebumps (2023), and feature films such as The Indian in the Cupboard, The Mighty, the Harry Potter film series, Tuck Everlasting, Clifford's Really Big Movie, The Golden Compass, the Hunger Games film series, Goosebumps, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, Mortal Engines, Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and The Bad Guys. It will produce Smile, and the upcoming films Trunks and Thelma the Unicorn. In 1985, Scholastic Productions teamed up with Karl-Lorimar Home Video, a home video unit of Lorimar Productions, to form the line Scholastic-Lorimar Home Video, whereas Scholastic would produce made-for-video programming, and became a best-selling video line for kids, and the pact expired for two years, whereas Scholastic would team up with leading independent family video distributor and a label of International Video Entertainment, Family Home Entertainment, to distribute made-for-video programming for the next three years.[28]

Book fairs

Scholastic Book Fairs began in 1981. Scholastic provides book fair products to schools, which then conduct the book fairs. Schools can elect to receive books, supplies and equipment or a portion of the proceeds from the book fair.[29]

In the United States, during fiscal 2023, revenue from the book fairs channel ($553.1 millions) accounted for half of the company's revenue in the "Total Children's Book Publishing and Distribution" segment ($1,038 millions),[30] and schools earned over $210 million in proceeds in cash and incentive program credits.[31]

In October 2023, Scholastic created a separate category for books dealing with "race, LGBTQ and other issues related to diversity", allowing schools to opt out of carrying these types of books. Scholastic defended the move, citing legislation in multiple states seeking to ban books dealing with LGBTQ issues or race.[32] After public backlash from educators, authors, and free speech advocacy groups, Scholastic reversed course, saying the new category will be discontinued, writing: "It is unsettling that the current divisive landscape in the U.S. is creating an environment that could deny any child access to books, or that teachers could be penalized for creating access to all stories for their students".[33][34]

Book clubs

Scholastic book clubs are offered at schools in many countries. Typically, teachers administer the program to the students in their own classes, but in some cases, the program is administered by a central contact for the entire school. Within Scholastic, Reading Clubs is a separate unit (compared to, e.g., Education). Reading clubs are arranged by age/grade.[35] Book club operators receive "Classroom Funds" redeemable only for Scholastic Corporation products.[36][37][38]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Scholastic Form 10-K Annual Report". Scholastic Corporation. Archived from the original on April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Annual Report 2019" (PDF). Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Neary, Lynn (July 15, 2013). "How Scholastic Sells Literacy to Generations Of New Readers". NPR. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  4. ↑ "United States Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K Annual Report pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities exchange Act of 1934, For the fiscal year ended May 31, 2002, Commission File No. 0-19860: Scholastic Corporation". 2002. pp. 6, 7. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Richard Robinson". Scholastic.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  6. ↑ "French Plan to Sell Grolier", Publishers Weekly, 11/29/1999
  7. ↑ "Scholastic to Acquire Grolier", press release, Scholastic Inc., 4/13/2000.
  8. ↑ "Scholastic to End Independent Publication of Weekly Reader". Bloomberg. July 23, 2012. Archived from the original on July 31, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Scholastic profit rises on Hunger Games sales". Reuters. July 19, 2012. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  10. ↑ Reaney, Patricia (July 31, 2012). "J.K. Rowling launches Harry Potter book club online". Reuters. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Global Publishing Leaders 2018: Scholastic". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  12. ↑ Croot, James (December 29, 2021). "Clifford the Big Red Dog: Doggone it - this predictable canine caper disappoints". Stuff. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  13. ↑ Williams, John (September 20, 2017). "Richard Robinson of Scholastic Honored for Lifetime of Work in Children's Publishing". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts". www.promotionandarts.org. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Welcome To Arthur A. Levine Books!". Arthur A. Levine Books!. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Potter Publisher Predicted Literary Magic". NPR. Archived from the original on May 31, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  17. ↑ "The Wizardly Editor Who Caught the Golden Snitch". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 31, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  18. ↑ Whyte, Alexandra (March 13, 2019). "Harry Potter publisher leaves Scholastic". Kidscreen. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Graphix".
  20. ↑ "Publishing Channel". www.scholastic.com.au. Scholastic Australia. Archived from the original on June 25, 2015. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Children's Press". Archived from the original on June 17, 2017. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Tom Snyder Products Announces FASTT Math". PR Newswire. April 7, 2005. ProQuest 451492696.
  23. ↑ Hobbs, Nancy (December 27, 1996). "Under The Covers; Reviews Of Children's Books". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  24. ↑ Bookman, Julie (September 11, 1999). "Books for Kids: 'Wow' facts give young historians frame of reference - Family Pages". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023.
  25. ↑ "Welcome". About Scholastic. Scholastic Corporation. Archived from the original on April 11, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  26. ↑ "Media & The Mission". About Scholastic. Scholastic Corporation. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  27. ↑ "Weston Woods Caldecott/Newbery Collection". English language teaching: listening practice. Scholastic Corporation. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  28. ↑ "Kidvid Forces Link To Attack Market". Variety. August 19, 1987. p. 47.
  29. ↑ "2023 Annual Report, page 9". investor.scholastic.com. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  30. ↑ "2023 Annual Report, page 56". investor.scholastic.com. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  31. ↑ "2023 Annual Report, page 13". investor.scholastic.com. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  32. ↑ Picchi, Aimee (October 17, 2023). "Scholastic book fairs, a staple at U.S. schools, accused of excluding diverse books". CBS News. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  33. ↑ Treisman, Rachel (October 25, 2023). "Scholastic backtracks, saying it will stop separating diverse books for fairs in 2024". NPR. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  34. ↑ Horton, Adrian (October 25, 2023). "Scholastic reverses decision to separate books on race, gender and sexuality". The Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  35. ↑ "Our Businesses". scholastic.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  36. ↑ "Terms & Services". scholastic.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  37. ↑ "Raise Classroom Funds". scholastic.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  38. ↑ "FAQ: Raising Money for Your Classroom". Scholastic Corporation. Salesforce. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021. Where can classroom funds be spent? Classroom Funds can be spent online only at Scholastic Book Clubs (clubs.scholastic.com)
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