STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – It is a familiar scene in households across the city: a tired parent slumps onto the couch with a child and a book, rushing through the pages just to get to bedtime. We know we are supposed to read to our kids, but knowing exactly how to turn a simple story into a brain-building lesson is a different challenge entirely.

At P.S. 74 Future Leaders Elementary, the “Dream Squad”, a specialized team of advocates for multilingual and immigrant families, is aiming to change that dynamic. Their solution isn’t another heavy curriculum or a stack of worksheets. Instead, it is a free, web-based application called “The Bridge” (El Puente), designed to sit quietly on a parent’s phone and whisper expert advice right when they need it most.

The tool is the brainchild of Mr. Grin Recanatini, a FLES educator and literacy teacher at the school. Recanatini, who serves on the Dream Squad alongside colleagues Wanda Sousa, Marlene Soto-Rosado, and Nourhan Mohamed, realized that while parents have the will to support their children, they often lack the specific strategies teachers use in the classroom.

“The Bridge” acts less like a library and more like a coach. Unlike other apps that distract children with games or replace physical books with screens, this tool is designed specifically as a mobile companion. It was built to be held in one hand, allowing a parent to easily glance at prompts while keeping their other hand free to hold the book or their child as they guide the journey through the story.

The user experience is intentionally simple, stripping away the jargon of education theory in favor of actionable guidance. When a parent opens the site, they aren’t greeted with a list of rules, but rather a gentle, guided pathway. The app moves families through a “Universal Parent Reading Support Framework” that breaks the reading experience into manageable phases.

It begins before the book even opens. The interface prompts parents to engage their children in “pre-reading,” asking questions about the title and artwork to prime the brain for the story ahead. As the parent reads, the app serves as a reminder to pause, encouraging them to stop every page or two to check for meaning—a step often skipped in the rush of bedtime routines. Finally, it guides families through post-reading summaries and “extension” questions, helping children connect the fantastical stories they read to their real-world lives.

For the Dream Squad, this project is about equity. The team was formed to ensure that school programs reflect the brilliance and specific needs of the community, particularly for families navigating English as a new language. By putting a “teacher in the pocket” of every parent, they hope to demystify the reading process and prove that you don’t need a degree in education to build a scholar at home; you just need a little support.

Mr. Recanatini and the Dream Squad are inviting all parents to try the tool, which requires no downloads and works directly in any smartphone browser. For convenience, families are encouraged to save the app to their phone’s “Favorites” for quick access during nightly routines. It can also be easily located on the FLES website under the “Parents” menu.

Access the app here: https://grin-nyc.github.io/reading-app/