Our Story
One great idea leads to another. In 1975, Joan Hoffman, M.A., opened the School Zone Teacher Store, a retail outlet for teacher supplies. It was for teachers, yes, but the store soon drew parents looking for resources to use at home with their kids. This is where the magic happened! Recognizing a huge, unmet need, Joan and her husband James Hoffman, Ed.D., envisioned a line of educational products that would help parents encourage and reinforce their child’s at-school learning. The rest, as they say, is history. An amazing journey continues to unfold more than 40 years later, thanks to The School Zone Advantage that is part of every product.
The Journey
1979 - School Zone Incorporates
Educators Joan and James Hoffman take their idea to create supplemental educational materials for kids to the bank. They start School Zone Publishing Company!
1980 - A New Home for a Booming Business
The demand for School Zone's first-ever series of workbooks is so high that new production facilities must be built!
1983 - Workbooks in Every Walmart
As part of Sam Walton's commitment to children's education, Walmart orders School Zone workbooks for all its stores.
1986 - To the Rescue for Captain Kangaroo
When the beloved children's show "Captain Kangaroo" comes to an end after running for 29 years, School Zone helps to fund its return in reruns on PBS.
1987 - School Zone Keeps on Growing
School Zone continues to grow and succeed. The warehouse is expanded to six times its original size as School Zone offers more than ever—workbooks, flash cards, early readers, audio and video cassettes, puzzles, and more!
1993 - Brand-New Big Books Sell Big
Reception for School Zone's Big Get Ready Workbooks is strong from the get-go. And even today, this Big Workbook series continues to be a best seller!
1996 - Apple Awards Alphabet Express
School Zone expands its offerings by making interactive products. Alphabet Express is the first of these and wins Apple's 1996 HIDE (Human Interface Design Excellence) Award for Most Elegant Product!
1998 - School Zone Goes Online
School Zone launches its first website and begins to sell its products online.
2002 - Interactive Excellence
School Zone continues to receive awards for its carefully crafted interactive products for children. To date, School Zone has received over 100 different awards.
2010 - Three Apps Ready for the First iPad
For Apple’s highly anticipated iPad launch, School Zone makes an app version of three of its popular software titles. The first-ever iPad releases with these apps available on the App Store.
2013 - A Brand-New Show: "Charlie & Company®"
School Zone decides to produce an independent live-action and animated educational series: "Charlie & Company."
2014 - Little Scholar® On-the-Go Learning
School Zone continues to innovate by creating a learning tablet packed with award-winning content. Safe, secure and ad-free, the Little Scholar doesn’t even need the internet!
2015 - The Ultimate Learning Destination
Now anywhere can be a School Zone. At any time, on any device connected to the internet, children and parents can experience School Zone’s fantastic content and curriculum on Anywhere Teacher.
2019 - Anywhere Teacher Guided Learning Paths
School Zone adds what would be the first of three, teacher-developed, curriculum-based learning paths to its online learning program, so that kids in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade learn what they need to know, when they need to know it, one step at a time!
2021 - Comprehensive Kits: A Classroom Approach
School Zone creates teacher-developed Full Learning Programs for preschool and kindergarten that feature a year of activities in one great package. Just like at school, kids can easily move between books, workbooks, flash cards, games, and cut-and-paste projects.