SOUTH BOISE, Idaho — Students in the West Ada School District now have access to free 24/7 online tutoring. Varsity Tutors offers chat-based tutoring, essay review college and career guidance, and enrichment classes at no cost to students or the district.
- Varsity Tutors will be available to students for the next six years.
- Switching to the new service will save West Ada Schools $1.4 Million over the next two years.
- You can find more information about Varsity Tutors and how your student can utilize the new resource here.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
"Students who are engaged in the learning process are gonna have questions about the learning," says Marcus Myers, the Chief Academic Officer for West Ada Schools.
He tells me students often need some extra help outside of school hours while they're learning new things, that's why the district is expanding access to free online tutoring.
"It's important that outside of our classrooms and outside the scope of our school day, that we continue to provide those supports and resources to ensure that all students are successful, regardless of their opportunity to provide tutoring at home at their family's own cost, we're gonna be able to provide that for them," says Myers.
Varsity Tutors, the new free tutoring resource, offers online chat-based tutoring 24 hours a day in English or Spanish, essay drop-off review where students can get feedback on how to improve in 48 hours, enrichment classes, and college and career guidance.
"All students in West Ada have access to this resource. We are rolling out specifically the training and the understanding of how to use the tool starting with middle school and high school students and then will start with our elementary students third and fifth grade," says Myers.
"High dosage, tutoring has stood above everything as it relates to driving learning outcomes and delivering a sustained impact on test scores," says Anthony Salcito, the Chief Institution Officer for Varsity Tutors.
He tells me their direct approach helps students retain information and hone their skills in areas like writing.
"We've established these offerings at no cost for multiple school years so districts can plan for it. Parents can understand what the platform looks like so they're aware of the resources they are available and then hopefully students get comfortable using these tools over time," says Salcito.
District leaders tell me switching to the new service will save West Ada $1.4 million over the next two years.
"Providing an opportunity for students to get support 24/7 outside of the classroom while they're at home at any point of the day in order to a help them achieve is exactly our goal," added Myers.
