Local business specializes in flexible ‘boutique’ tutoring
Half way through his senior year at Memorial High School Christian DeAyala already had his mind on college and a fraternity. Trouble was, he wasn’t done with school. In fact, he was becoming more undone, and graduating on time seemed remote.
“I was having difficulties — I wasn’t very focused on my classes, I was drinking with my friends,” DeAyala said.
DeAyala left Memorial at the end of the first semester of his senior year, but with the help of a tutoring service he completed his high school credits, graduated on time and headed to the University of Alabama, where he recently completed his first year.
DeAyala’s mom Lillian Newman, a Memorial resident, said her son needed a different environment in which to finish school, and the flexible, individualized services he received at TutorVille, a tutoring business started six years ago by Jess Rogers, fit his needs.
“TutorVille had a great environment — he loved it,” Newman said. “Jess went above and beyond to get his transcript in order.”
Homeschool tutoring services, like those DeAyala received, are some of the many offerings the River Oaks-based tutoring business has branched into as demand for services has risen since Rogers founded TutorVille six years ago.
This fall, Rogers is launching a series of enrichment courses at their offices at 1210 West Clay St.
The courses cover a range of areas, including: coding; finance; science, technology, engineering and math subjects; filmmaking, world explorers and entrepreneurship.
With the growing number of homeschool fami-
lies in the area, Rogers said the company has also developed a personalized homeschool program for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
In the meantime, Rogers said TutorVille continues to offer staple services such as subject tutoring, test prep for the SAT and ACT and private school entrance exams and help with organizational skills on an individual basis or in small groups at home or at the TutorVille facility.
Rogers advised parents to seek tutoring support for their kids sooner rather than later.
“Academic struggles can be identified and overcome early on with the right guidance and preparation from a caring, experienced tutor,” Rogers said.
Of course, private tutoring services are a crowded market these days if a Google search is anything to go by.
Rogers said that what sets the company apart is personal service and a highly qualified staff that ranges from medical students to experienced science teachers.
“We consider ourselves a boutique firm,” Rogers said. “We have fantastic tutors, and we have a great reputation.”
Rogers said the company serves students from private schools like St. Francis Episcopal Day School and St. Thomas High School to public schools in Spring Branch Independent School District like Hunters Creek Elementary, Spring Branch Middle and Memorial and Stratford high schools.
But if families can’t go the private tutoring route to give their child an edge, or in DeAyala’s case, catch up, schools offer myriad services.
“There’s not a school in Spring Branch that doesn’t have some tutorials or other or offers extra help for their students — it could be during the day, before school, after school,” SBISD spokeswoman Linda Buchman said. “For example, Memorial High School has an extended lunch period if kids need extra help, or they can reach out to a teacher.”
Buchman listed other district tutoring and support services including online ACT and SAT prep; local partnerships with Huntington Learning Center and Sylvan Learning, two other private tutoring businesses; tutorials at 10 campuses through Texas Ace, a federal grant program; pairing of National Honors Society students with younger students; Collegiate Challenge, a district program that helps some students with the college application process; and Family Point Resources.
“We believe our teachers know our kids and what they need,” Buchman said. “If they can work with their students, it works really well.”
To find out more, visit www.tutorvilletexas.com. For information about SBISD, visit www.springbranchisd.com.