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, is the mascot of the company.

Company history

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. More magazines followed for Scholastic Magazines. In 1948, Scholastic entered the book club business. In the 1960s, scholastic international publishing locations were added in England 1964, New Zealand 1964, and Sydney 1968. Also in the 1960s, Scholastic entered the book publishing business. In the 1970s, Scholastic created its TV entertainment division. From 1975 until his death in 2021, Richard Robinson, who was the son of the corporation's founder, served as CEO and president. In 2000, Scholastic purchased Grolier for US$400 million. 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. 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.

Company structure

The business has three segments: Children's Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Solutions, and International. Scholastic holds the perpetual US publishing rights to the Harry Potter and Hunger Games book series. 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. 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, The Magic School Bus, 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.

Marketing initiatives

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

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.

Scholastic Entertainment

Scholastic Entertainment (formerly Scholastic Productions and Scholastic Media) is a corporate division led by Deborah Forte since 1995. It covers "all forms of media and consumer products, and is comprisedof [sic] 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. Scholastic has produced audiobooks such as the Caldecott/Newbery Collection; Scholastic has been involved with several television programs and feature films based on its books. 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.

Filmography

Series

Specials

Films

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. In the United States, during fiscal 2024, revenue from the book fairs channel ($541.6 million) accounted for more than half of the company's revenue in the "Total Children's Book Publishing and Distribution" segment ($955.2 million), and schools earned over $200 million in proceeds in cash and incentive credits. 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. 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". Scholastic Book Fairs are viewed positively for promoting a love of reading among children, allowing students to discover their reading preferences, and providing some children with lasting positive memories associated with books and reading. However, the events face criticism for several reasons:

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. Book club operators receive "Classroom Funds" redeemable only for Scholastic Corporation products.