Kathi Hart
Content Specialist
Kathi Hart serves as the Tutoring Program Content Specialist for READ USA, a position she has held for the past two years. In this role, Kathi supports teen tutors, teachers, and teacher coordinators in READ USA’s Literacy Tutoring program at elementary schools across Duval County.
Kathi has dedicated her career to education and particularly literacy, having held a variety of roles inside and outside the classroom. She has both received and delivered constant professional development throughout her career, all focused on literacy and helping students become better readers. Her personal passion and professional goal have always been to help children learn to love reading.
Kathi began her career as a kindergarten teacher, and taught kindergartners at Ruth Upson and Brentwood elementary schools in Jacksonville for more than 20 years. The opportunity arose for her to then become a Reading Recovery and reading intervention teacher at North Shore Elementary, a position she held for a decade. As part of the program, she received intensive training in Reading Recovery. This experience further fueled Kathi’s passion for literacy and teaching, as the Reading Recovery program is focused on understanding a student’s current skills and then building upon those skills, meeting students ‘where they are’ and helping them to individually grow and succeed. During this time, Kathi also served as an on-site facilitator for an after-school literacy tutoring program in Title I schools. She completed her time at North Shore Elementary as a school instructional coach.
After more than three decades in Duval County Public Schools classrooms, Kathi then became a district-level literacy specialist for five years before returning to the classroom as a reading interventionist at Dinsmore Elementary. Prior to retirement, Kathi spent the last few years of her career in the public school system as a district-level K-5 reading specialist and a 4th-grade reading interventionist and writing teacher at Lake Lucina Elementary.
Throughout her career, Kathi earned certifications in Early Childhood, Elementary Education and her Reading Endorsement. She completed post-graduate studies in Reading Recovery at Jacksonville University and completed Reading Competencies One-Five. She has led and participated in numerous professional organizations and conferences and is involved in the Duval Literacy Association. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Auburn University.