Cedar Rapids Community Schools
Holly Reeder is the instructional coach at Hiawatha Elementary School. Prior to becoming an instructional coach, she taught special education for 16 years. She received her undergraduate degree from The University of Iowa and a master’s from Morningside University. In addition to teaching, Reeder is the mother of two amazing daughters.
Literacy is her passion. She believes that illiteracy is the most solvable epidemic today. All children can learn to read. Over the past 10 years, she has worked to understand the science of reading and earned her certification to become a LETRS trainer. Reeder has trained countless teachers in the Cedar Rapids Community School District on the science of reading.
Helping teachers understand how the brain works, the importance of foundational literacy skills and the impact background knowledge and vocabulary has on student outcomes has driven Reeder to create district courses with a colleague. Their classes look at how teaching kids to read has gone so wrong and what they, as literacy champions, can do to ensure that all students are proficient readers.
Literacy is social justice, and reading is a civil right. Reeder will not stop until every child in CRCSD, regardless of income or race, learns to read.