Thanks for asking! Our service went live on April 4, 2020, and we've been adding vetted tutors to the site weekly. We also plan to phase in additional grade levels in the fall. Our tutors come from great schools across the country such as: Barnard College, Bates College, Brown University, Claremont McKenna College, De Paul University, Menlo College, Muhlenberg College, Northwestern University, Notre Dame de Namur University Pitzer College, Scripps College, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Union College, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, University of Pittsburgh, Villanova University, Western Michigan University, Wheaton College, and more!
Congratulations on selecting your tutor! VTS staff will send an email to you and your tutor within 24 hours of purchase (or 48 hours if a weekend). Once the matching email has been sent, we encourage you to reply with a message to your tutor regarding your desired tutoring schedule, your child’s grade level and tutoring needs, and anything else you think may be helpful for your tutor to know about your child.
VTS tutors are encouraged to respond to parent and staff emails within 24 hours. If you do not receive any correspondence from your tutor within 24 hours, first check your junk mail folder, then email VTS staff at communityed@smccd.edu if you still don’t see a response. We request that both parent and tutor copy VTS only for the initial exchange of emails. Once both parties have exchanged emails you may drop VTS from your correspondence.
VTS tutors provide on-demand support for students with homework and/or classwork. Tutors will first seek to understand what support tutees (your children) need, then provide responsive tutoring to help them.
There is not a set curriculum. VTS tutors provide on-demand support for students that varies from student to student. Tutors will use various resources and differentiated instruction to meet each student’s learning needs.
Yes, we collect a matching fee before connecting parents with each selected tutor. This provides access to the selected tutor by all 6th to 12th grade students in the household. The matching fee for the first selected tutor is $75, discounted to $25 per match for all additional tutors. After your initial match you will receive a discount code by email, which you can use when finalizing payment for additional tutors. Please do not share your discount code with other parents. Matching reports will be run weekly to ensure discount codes are used only by parents who have paid the initial matching fee.
Tutors are paid directly by parents via Venmo or Paypal at $20/hour, to be paid prior to each session. Your tutor will let you know their preference after you have been matched.
Fit between tutors and students is very important. We encourage parents to carefully review the video and information provided before selecting a tutor. We recommend scheduling and paying for just one session to begin with, while keeping in mind that it may take a few sessions to establish the tutoring relationship. Parents wishing to switch tutors simply for a different fit may select any other tutor for $25 per match. We will then make the match within 24 hours (or 48 hours if a weekend). If there is a specific problem regarding tutor performance, parents may bring that to staff attention at communityed@smccd.edu. Staff will determine if a new complementary match needs to be made on a case by case basis. In the event that the tutor feels that the match is not the best fit for the child, they will alert VTS staff and a new complementary match will be provided.
Yes, parents may observe any tutoring session; however, we recommend that parents give their child(ren) space to grow into the tutoring relationship. Observing every session may not be best for your child.
VTS staff aim to provide matching within 24 hours of purchase (or 48 hours if a weekend). Once the matching email has been sent, we encourage our tutors to respond within 24 hours. If you do not receive any correspondence from your tutor within 24 hours, first check your junk mail, then email VTS staff at communityed@smccd.edu if you still don’t see it.
While tutors come from many different time zones across the country, all tutor availability is provided in Pacific time on the VTS website. When corresponding with your tutor, be sure to clarify both your time zone and the tutor’s time zone to avoid any confusion.