of U.S. fourth-graders scored below NAEP Basic in reading in 2024.
Below the assessment’s threshold for partial mastery of fundamental reading skills—not a measure of whether a child can read at all.Source: 2024 Nation’s Report Card →01
THE PROBLEM
A struggling reader can start believing the struggle is who they are.
Reading difficulty reaches beyond a report card. It can affect confidence, motivation, school participation, and a child’s willingness to keep trying.
Leaping with Lisa uses short, focused, individualized online reading intervention around phonics, fluency, comprehension, and the skills a child actually needs.
Teach the skill. Restore the confidence.
02
THE PROOF
Progress you can see.
Lisa’s public site shares real student outcomes from years of tutoring:
EvanIn eight months, moved from second-grade-level reading as a high-school sophomore to understanding grade-level text.
AmbreeIn under two years, moved from slow, error-filled reading to reading more than two years above grade level.
HudsonAdvanced 1.4 reading grade levels in five months.
ParentsPublic reviews repeatedly describe stronger confidence, engagement, and motivation.
Small sessions. Measurable leaps.
Student outcomes and parent-review summaries are drawn from Leaping with Lisa’s public website and linked Google reviews.
LISA’S PUBLISHED SUCCESS STORIES
Reading opens doors.
Twelve stories and parent perspectives.
Real people. Provider-published experiences. You control the pace.
Lisa reports that in eight months, Evan moved from second-grade-level reading as a high-school sophomore to understanding grade-level text.
Read Lisa’s published stories →
Lisa reports that after 18 months, Keira progressed from reading difficulties that limited worship-team participation to leading worship.
Read Lisa’s published stories →
Lisa reports stronger reading and renewed confidence after five months.
Read Lisa’s published stories →
Lisa reports above-grade-level reading and a return to public school after 20 months of tutoring.
Read Lisa’s published stories →
Lisa reports that after two years, Ben surpassed his school’s reading goals.
Read Lisa’s published stories →
Courtney describes reading improvement, growing confidence, and tutoring that fitted the family’s schedule.
Read Lisa’s published stories →
Lisa reports that after being retained in third grade, Landon reached grade-level reading after 2½ years and went on to mentor other students.
Read Lisa’s published stories →
Lisa reports that in two years, Suvi moved from struggling to keep up to placing third in her grade on a state assessment.
Read Lisa’s published stories →
An original family review about Lisa’s literacy work, shown as published rather than rewritten.
Read Lisa’s published stories →
An original family review about Lisa’s literacy work, shown as published rather than rewritten.
Read Lisa’s published stories →
An original family review about Lisa’s literacy work, shown as published rather than rewritten.
Read Lisa’s published stories →
An original family review about Lisa’s literacy work, shown as published rather than rewritten.
Read Lisa’s published stories →Stories and reviews published by Leaping with Lisa describe individual experiences; results vary. BridgeBuilder’s wider faith reflections are our own.
Why literacy deserves our attention.
National context helps explain the need. These population-level findings are separate from the individual tutoring stories above.
of U.S. adults ages 16–65 scored at Level 1 or below in literacy in 2023.
Low literacy proficiency: reading tasks at these levels involve short, straightforward texts.Source: OECD Survey of Adult Skills 2023 →These are national assessment findings, not results from Lisa’s tutoring program. Different assessments measure different populations and skills.
03
WHY THE LEAP INITIATIVE
Skill should not depend on who can afford help.
Leaping with Lisa is the professional tutoring platform. The LEAP Initiative is the ministry bridge: helping churches, organizations, businesses, and individual sponsors open access for children whose families need help paying for intervention.
Sponsor the help. Change the trajectory.
The longer vision also includes family literacy tools, Leapy learning resources, financial-literacy education, and simple materials that can travel into churches and mission fields.
04
WHY BRIDGEBUILDER TRUSTS IT
I watched the idea become impact.
BridgeBuilder founder Chris Cahill has watched Lisa’s literacy work grow for years — from an idea into a real tutoring practice producing measurable gains for struggling readers.
The LEAP Initiative is the next question: what if the children who need the help most could reach it because a church, organization, or neighbor chose to sponsor the bridge?
05
FAITH IN ACTION
Teach. Encourage. Multiply.
Deuteronomy 6:6–7 pictures faith being taught diligently in the rhythms of ordinary life. Literacy gives a child greater access not only to school and opportunity, but also to the written stories, wisdom, and Scripture that form a life.
Open a book. Open a future.