95 Percent Group, a Portfolio Company of Leeds Equity Partners, Announces Acquisition of Morpheme Magic

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. and BOISE, Idaho, Feb. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- 95 Percent Group LLC, the trusted source for comprehensive, proven literacy solutions, today announced the acquisition of Morpheme Magic, a company founded by Dr. Deborah R. Glaser, Ed.D., to help learners build morphological awareness.  Building on the 2023 acquisitions of Hill Reading Achievement Program (now 95 RAP™) and Tools 4 Reading, the addition of Morpheme Magic continues to grow the company's One95™ Literacy Ecosystem™, which equips educators with a comprehensive toolkit to unlock the power of literacy for every child.

"More than 40 states have recognized the power of the science of reading and adopted policies that help readers build the foundations and advanced skills of language in a structured progression," said Brad Lindaas, CEO, 95 Percent Group.  "To provide teachers with the resources they need to successfully implement this proven approach, we are continuing to grow our Literacy Ecosystem™ through product development and acquisitions of high-quality resources.  Morpheme Magic provides a powerful supplement for addressing this important component of literacy development with learners."

Morphological awareness is the ability to recognize, understand, and employ the units of meaning that make up words, helping to build student reading comprehension skills.  Morpheme Magic offers two supplemental curriculum offerings, each complementing the morphology lessons included in 95 Percent Group's flagship 95 Phonics Core Program^®.  Morpheme Magic: Lessons to Build Morphological Awareness for Grades 4-12 features 53 lessons, including assessments, covering suffixes, prefixes, roots, and Greek combining forms.  Morphemes for Little Ones: Bringing the Magic of Language into K-3 Classrooms provides systematic, structured literacy lessons to help educators teach morphological awareness appropriately to students.

"I founded Morpheme Magic in response to teachers who told me that they knew morphological awareness was important but were not sure how to teach it," said Dr. Glaser, who also created Top 10 Tools, a comprehensive science of reading course that was included in 95 Percent Group's acquisition of Tools for Reading.  "95 Percent Group is the perfect new home for Morpheme Magic as it will integrate seamlessly into the One95™ Literacy Ecosystem™ and empower even more teachers around the country with a trusted, proven approach to foundational reading skills."

"The acquisition of Morpheme Magic strengthens the One95 Literacy Ecosystem's support for beginning readers and uniquely positions the Company as the go-to resource to accelerate the development of foundational literacy skills.  We look forward to working with Dr. Glaser and to the continued success of Morpheme Magic as part of 95 Percent Group," said Eric Geveda, Managing Director at Leeds Equity Partners.

In addition to the acquisition of Morpheme Magic's product offerings, Dr. Glaser will continue to work directly with 95 Percent Group in a consulting capacity.

Polsinelli served as legal counsel to 95 Percent Group. Varin Thomas LLC served as legal counsel to Morpheme Magic.

About Morpheme Magic
Morpheme Magic is a provider of systematic, structured literacy lessons and training that supports teachers' ability to teach and grow their students' morphological awareness.  The instructional materials include lessons, activities, classroom aides, and assessments, which pair with teacher training for morphology and teaching strategies.  The company was founded and led by Dr. Deborah Glaser, an active speaker and author of multiple books, course content, and training programs aligned to the science of reading.  For more information, visit https://morphememagic.com.

About 95 Percent Group
95 Percent Group is an education company whose mission is to build on science to empower teachers—supplying the knowledge, resources and support they need—to develop strong readers.  Using an approach that is based in structured literacy, the company's One95™ Literacy Ecosystem™ integrates professional learning and evidence-based literacy products into one cohesive system that supports consistent instructional routines across tiers and is proven and trusted to help students close skill gaps and read fluently.  95 Percent Group is also committed to advancing research, best practices, and thought leadership on the science of reading more broadly.  For more information, visit https://www.95percentgroup.com/.

About Leeds Equity Partners
Leeds Equity is a New York-based private equity firm dedicated exclusively to partnering with management teams in the education, training, and information services industries (the "Knowledge Industries").  The firm was founded in 1993 and currently manages approximately $5 billion of capital across a broad spectrum of companies within the Knowledge Industries.  Leeds Equity seeks to leverage its sector-focused expertise and market insights to create long-term value for its partner companies and investors.  For additional information on Leeds Equity Partners, see http://www.leedsequity.com/. 

For More Information:
Scott VanHoy
Tel. 212-835-2000
www.leedsequity.com

SOURCE LEEDS EQUITY PARTNERS