Popularity leads to expansion of tutoring center with new resources

After a successful debut last year, the tutoring center has obtained a larger room within the library this year and now occupies one half of the research center.

The 30 computers that filled the research center room last year have been reduced to 11 on one wall. By minimizing the number of computers, the newly vacated space is furnished with vibrant red and gray couches alongside various types of desks — providing more space for tutoring to occur.

Throughout last year, the tutoring center rapidly outgrew the small glass-in conference center in the library that housed it.

“We were really trying to figure out if we should make the tutoring center part of the old 800 building,” principal Paul Robinson said. “The best place for a tutoring center is always somehow attached to a library. That’s where we’ve seen them in different schools and they always work really well there.”

The library has a research center that contained two media labs, but most classes only ever used one. Because  Chromebook carts have proliferated across campus — there are 20 now, compared to just a handful five years ago — the use of the media lab’s computers has declined significantly.

As a result, librarian Kevin Heyman along with Robinson, decided that the best use of the school’s resources was to convert one of the media labs into the tutoring center.

With this new expansion, Robinson is happy to see how the abstract concept for the tutoring center has turned into a successful reality.

“For many years, we’ve had a number of parent requests that said, ‘You know, we’re paying tutors for this and that, is there any way the school can help us out with tutoring for free,’” Robinson said. “So we decided we’ll open it up and let’s see what happens.”

Before the tutoring center, which is open from 9:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. each day, started to gain momentum, a feeling of uncertainty accompanied this idea of a tutoring center, Robinson said. Yet, to his relief, it averaged around 100 students a week last year.

“We have been very encouraged by the number of students that want to come in and get some assistance, so we thought we would grow it into something bigger,” Robinson said.

However, as the expansion occurred, engineering and physics teacher Matt Welander, last year’s tutoring center supervisor, decided to step down from his supervising position due to scheduling restraints.

In turn, science teacher Kristofer Orre stepped in to help with “connecting the dots and connecting different parties” who each require  different services. Orre now helps manage the tutoring center alongside parent Sunita Bal, who helped significantly with the creation and implementation of the tutoring center.

Orre is optimistic that the tutoring center, complete now with more space and more resources, will be able to give students more personalized attention.

“I think it’s exciting because students can find a setting that matches their learning style. We are still getting furniture that's going to be delivered,” Orre said. “It's all about matching what a student needs with how they learn, and giving them better academic support.”

Along with the new equipment, there is a chance that a few adults will soon begin to assist in offering free tutoring just as student tutors have been doing for more than a year now.