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Scholastic.com Unveils Upgrade of Most Trafficked Website for Teachers Serving 1.6 Million Unique Visitors Weekly

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"Since it went on the internet in 1995, the Scholastic.com Teacher Site has served as the web's most reliable hub for the tools teachers want and need most -- daily lesson plans, student activities, information about great children's books and teaching materials that drive achievement. More and more teachers have turned to the internet as a vital teaching resource in recent years, and they've come to Scholastic for our rich content and applications," said Dick Robinson, Chairman, President and CEO of Scholastic. "This site redesign streamlines the search for content and resources teachers use in their classrooms every day, helping them save time and be more effective in meeting the needs of their students."

As part of the site redesign, Scholastic surveyed thousands of teachers to validate the resources they want and the user experience that would best serve their needs. The new Scholastic.com Teacher Site has faster, more targeted search and browse functionality, new all-in-one-place collections of ready-to-go content, more whiteboard-friendly interactive units and more classroom help teachers can use every day.

Highlights of the rich content and book search tools now available or newly improved on the Scholastic.com Teacher site include the following:

    --  The Book Wizard ®-- the site's "killer app" which has seen a 95%
        increase in visits since 2009.  This book search tool is designed to
        help teachers and librarians find the right book for the right child at
        the right time according to reading level, interest level, grade and
        genre. The Book Wizard pulls its resources from a comprehensive library
        of 50,000 carefully curated, quality children's books from all
        publishers.
    --  Everything You Need collections -- a new feature that includes
        "everything you need" to teach a specific topic from Thanksgiving to
        volcanoes to Abraham Lincoln. Collections include lesson plans,
        resources, photos and videos, classroom activities and practical ideas
        to implement during the specific lesson.
    --  Daily Starters - also a new feature -free, quick and easy grade-level
        activities to kick-off the day or a class period.
    --  More than 7,000 practical Lesson Plans and resources -- on any subject,
        for any grade level, at any time-- provided free from the Scholastic
        library of resources.
    --  A team of 15 mentor teachers -- Scholastic Teacher Bloggers -- with
        teaching tips, practical ideas and ready-to-use resources along with
        daily photos and videos to support teachers seeking to improve their
        practice or build on the experience of other teachers.
    --  More than 400 Student Activities -- interactive units and learning games
        for whiteboard or computer that bring the curriculum to life in
        reading/language arts, social studies, science and math.
    --  The Teacher Helpline - quick answer to a wide range of teachers'
        questions from Ruth Manna, expert teacher and author of 130 FAQs and
        Practical Answers.
    --  The Teacher Store Online(TM) -- more than 25,000 fiction and non-fiction
        books and collections, instructional programs, and professional
        resources at educator-only discount pricing.

Here's what Anne G., a 5th grade teacher from Oregon, had to say about the new teacher site: "Your website is amazing! I have just spent several hours over the past two days exploring possibilities for my classroom. Thank you for a wealth of information, resources and ideas."

Later this school year, the Scholastic Teacher Site will introduce the Teacher Organizer, a personalized dashboard for each of the 2.4 million teachers who use the site. Teachers will be able to save documents, create folders, bookmark particular sections of the site, and share with peers, students and even parents, all through their individualized workspace.

In addition to the extensive free content and resources available on the Scholastic.com Teacher site, other highly trafficked areas of the site include:

    --  Scholastic Book Clubs NEW COOL (Clubs Ordering Online)- this school
        year, more than 80% of Scholastic Book Clubs orders are being placed
        online through NEW COOL with tens of thousands of orders placed ever day
        during the school year.  Teachers and parents can order more simply
        online using credit cards and accessing a larger selection of quality,
        affordable children's books than can be offered in the limited space in
        the paper catalogs distributed through classrooms.  In the beloved
        tradition of Scholastic Book Clubs, the flyers still come home with the
        students and the books are delivered directly to the teacher - always a
        moment of celebration in any classroom

    --  Scholastic Book Fairs® - the chairperson's toolkit is accessed by the
        PTA, media specialist and other chairpersons who organize and run more
        than 125,000 Scholastic Book Fairs annually.  This useful tool helps the
        book fair chairperson create a successful and exciting reading event to
        encourage literacy throughout their particular school and community.

    --  Scholastic News® - 28 classroom magazines for students in pre-K through
        grade 12 have an interactive web presence that allows teachers to
        supplement their lessons with video and other resources to expand on the
        timely topics covered in the print versions of the magazine.

    --  Teacher Express® - instantly-available downloadable ebooks for teachers
        and materials for whiteboard use and classroom instruction.

In the coming year, both the Parents' and the Kids' areas on Scholastic.com will also re-launch with significant enhancements.

For more information about Scholastic, visit our Media Room: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com

SOURCE Scholastic