About Us

Teri Hein started 826 Seattle (originally incorporated as Studio 26) with a group of community-minded Seattleites in 2004. As a Washington native, veteran teacher, and published author, she knew firsthand how valuable a youth writing center could be for Seattle students and their teachers. In early 2005, Studio 26 was invited to become a chapter of 826 National, which was founded by acclaimed author and philanthropist Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius).

826 Seattle began offering drop-in tutoring after school in October 2005, followed shortly by evening and weekend writing workshops and, in December 2005, the first field trip to 826 Seattle by a public school class (Ms. Dunker’s fifth graders from Greenwood Elementary).

Thanks to an outpouring of community support all our programs for public school students are free.

Our mission

826 Seattle is a nonprofit writing and tutoring center dedicated to helping youth, ages six to 18, improve their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around our belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.

826 National

826 Seattle is one of eight 826 National chapters. The original, 826 Valencia, is located in San Francisco’s Mission District (826valencia.org). The others are in Ann Arbor (826michigan.org); Brooklyn (826NYC.org); Chicago (826chi.org); Los Angeles (826la.org); Boston (826boston.org); and DC (826dc.org).