The app will be free to users who download it, but will cost the district $40,000 per year.
ENGLEWOOD -- A school district in North Jersey will pay for an app that officials hope will allow kids to start learning at an earlier age.
Robert Kravitz, superintendent at Englewood Public School District, is planning on providing an app called, "Footsteps2Brilliance" for Englewood residents, with a launch in January.
Anyone who lives in Englewood will be able to download the app with a web address that the district will provide, he said.
It will be free to users and offers tutorials to teach young kids, up to the third grade, basic lessons, such as phonics and sight words. The program will cost the district $40,000 a year, Kravitz said.
Ilene Rosenthal, co-founder and CEO of the app company, said the app has been shared in about 50 school districts throughout the country, but that Englewood was the first school district in New Jersey to do so.
The app was also part of the Clinton Global Initiative, Rosenthal said. CGI had its final annual meeting last month.
"Part of our commitment was to bring to the initiative those transformative leaders who are really going to make a difference," Rosenthal said.
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The children who use the app might not enroll in Kravitz's district, but if they did, their progress would be available for Englewood teachers to view to determine where they should start in coursework.
"Getting kids to read earlier helps us in the long-term," Kravitz said.
The app is available for tablets, smartphones and desktop computers. The lessons are offered in Spanish and English languages.
"It's a city-wide literacy initiative," Rosenthal said.
Kravitz said he planned to approach hospitals in the area to see if they might share the app with new parents after their babies are born. A spokeswoman for Englewood Hospital and Medical Center said the hospital had not yet been approached about the app.
Kravitz will share his ideas for improving public education when he meets with other leaders in Washington D.C. on Oct. 15 with U.S. Secretary of Education John King.
Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@SaraJerde.