Our Founders
Expertise in special education and literacy intervention — with the personal understanding that only comes from walking the path themselves.
Christina Clark
Co-Founder · Special Education Professional
Christina is a seasoned Special Education professional with extensive experience in literacy intervention. Her career began as a Teacher of the Deaf in public schools and at the California School for the Deaf, teaching elementary grades for over a decade.
Her expertise extends to Resource (Special Education) teaching in Fremont, Livermore, and Pleasanton schools, specializing in reading, writing, and math intervention. She holds a degree in Communicative Disorders with specialized training for deaf students.
In 2001, Christina founded the Barton Reading Program at Pleasanton Unified School District, delivering one-on-one tutoring to at-risk students through trained volunteers. From 2013–2020, Foundations Tutoring thrived as a successful in-person model, until COVID forced a pivot. That transition became a turning point: under the new brand Every Kid Can Read (same owners, same mission), the program moved to virtual instruction and never looked back. Not only did the online model scale to serve over 450 students, it proved more effective than in-person tutoring, giving Christina’s mission to improve reading, spelling, and writing skills a wider reach and stronger results than ever before.
Laurie Kristof
Co-Founder · Certified Barton Tutor & Facilitator
Laurie graduated from Cal Poly in 1989 with a BS in Industrial Technology and Marketing. Initially working in Aerospace as a Manufacturing Planner/Technical Writer, Laurie shifted focus after advocating for her own daughter with learning differences.
She discovered her passion for helping students with reading challenges and began volunteering with the Barton Reading Program at Pleasanton USD. In 2006, she became an Early Intervention Barton Tutor, achieved Certification in 2008, and transitioned to Facilitator in 2011 — supporting tutors, monitoring progress, and coordinating scheduling.
From 2006 to 2013, Laurie ran her own successful tutoring business using the Barton System for K-12 students. As co-founder of Every Kid Can Read, she continues to leverage her extensive experience to support students and enhance their literacy skills.
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