Category Archives: Blog

Heart Tutoring’s Kelsey Ripley is a Guest Writer for the Community Resilience Project’s December 2020 Newsletter

Our own Kelsey Ripley was a guest writer for the Community Resilience Project December 2020 Newsletter. Read her reflections on six months of virtual tutoring below!

One Word: Hope

Dear Community Resilience Project Family,

We have finally arrived. Together, we have made it to the end of 2020. What words would you use to describe this year? I sat down to write this letter and began with that question. In thinking about my own answer, words like crisis, grief, and exhaustion quickly bubbled to the … continue reading

Fall Pilot Success

In November, we finished a second pilot of Heart Tutoring’s new virtual program, with many thanks owed to 20 volunteers listed below and to 10 wonderful students and their families.

The group showed tenacity and resilience over seven weeks and had fun connecting over the computer. Remarkably, around half of students passed a curriculum notebook level after 7 weeks of virtual tutoring, matching typical curriculum growth in 9 weeks of the in-person program!

Heart Tutoring staff members designed new curriculum and tutor training materials, tested … continue reading

Sherpa and Heart Tutoring Presentation

It was our pleasure to start the Sherpa Spotlight Series with a fun seasonal theme – “Tips and Tricks to Make Math Less Scary”! At Sherpa’s invitation, Heart Tutoring’s Executive Director Emily Gaffney reviewed the importance of early math skills and shared resources for easy ways parents can support young children in building an understanding of numbers. Gaffney shared, “When children become powerful with numbers, it impacts the rest of their lives – from developing important habits like perseverance, clear thinking, and problem-solving, to feeling … continue reading

Staff Spotlight!

Heart Tutoring is so grateful to everyone on our team for their hard work every year, and especially this year as we transition to supporting students virtually! Keep reading to learn more about some Heart staff members who are working behind the scenes to help make the program possible.

Alexandra Blackwood

As a Program Coordinator, I serve as the liaison between my school site, school staff, students, volunteer tutors and Heart staff. I help tutors navigate our curriculum and monitor student progress. I decided to … continue reading

Latest Updates for Heart Tutors

We are so grateful for everyone who has signed up to be a Heart tutor this year! We are keeping tutors updated through email aswe finalize the details of our virtual tutoring model.Our latest updates are below. If you have signed up to tutor and aren’t receiving these emails, please contact Tayler Fisher. If you haven’t yet signed up to tutor for the 20-21 school year, you can do so here!

Tutor Training – Action Needed!
Training for Heart tutors will look different from … continue reading