Tutoring Club

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Tutoring Club in Cahaba Heights might be a for-profit company, but for its owners, it’s more than just a way to make money. Both owners have business backgrounds yet have now found their niche in tutoring.

“It’s a business for us but also an avenue to be a help for kids,” David Allen said. “You can’t be in this business and not have a passion for it.”

Allen’s wife, Denise, first got into the tutoring business in 2003 because it worked well with her daughters’ schedules. The two met in 2007, and Allen started helping her at her Valleydale Road Tutoring Club. After a couple of years, they decided to launch another location close to their home in Vestavia Hills, and in 2010 the location in Cahaba Heights opened.

No matter the program, Allen said parents are complimentary of the atmosphere and see value in the time their children spend at the facility.

“People used to see tutoring as something to be looked down on, but now it is a prestigious thing,” Allen said. “We have a seen a lot of students who need help, and as soon as they get it, it gives them more value. And you can see it in their countenance and on their faces.”

The club’s space is set up with u-shaped tables. Tutoring groups are designed for no more than 15 people at a time and no more than three students per tutor. Children in kindergarten to 12th grade come in for tutoring in math, reading comprehension, vocabulary and language. Most come twice a week for an hour at a time

Allen said what distinguishes their programs is how they can diagnose skill gaps with specially designed software that administers the California Achievement Test. After the assessment, the tutor prints out an individualized lesson plan for each student based on his or her needs.

“For instance, if a seventh grader is having trouble with pre-algebra, we can identify what basic math skills like decimals or fractions he or she is having trouble with, and then that will help him with his seventh grade pre-algebra,” Allen explained.

In addition, the Tutor Up program helps high school students with homework in a particular class in which they are struggling.

All tutors have college degrees, and their backgrounds vary from graduate students to former teachers. All of them have excelled in their studies, Allen said, and they receive training from Tutoring Club before starting.

For high schoolers looking toward college applications, Tutoring Club offers an ACT or SAT prep class starting eight weeks before a test date.

“Compared to other prep classes, they get the material in over a longer period of time at a slower rate,” Allen said. “We believe it sinks in and gets in deeper that way.”

Sessions include two hours a week of tutoring sessions, one hour a week of homework and three practice tests by the end of the course.

For younger students, a beginning reading program teaches phonics. Allen said it’s appropriate for any kindergarten or first grader students struggling in reading. The program is 72 sessions, but once again is individualized based on how a particular student tests.

The club recently moved into a new space two suites over from its previous location, which is a better size for its operation.

In the summer, the Allens offer the same math, reading and writing skills tutoring, as well as a study skills program recommended for ages 12-15 that lasts two hours a week for 12 weeks.

No matter the program or time of year, the center’s focus on mastery carries into what they do.

“In school, (students) may learn just enough to pass and then get behind,” he said. “But here we teach them mastery so they will know the subject. For instance, in math they must get two 100s in a row to move on to the next lesson.”

Prices for basic tutoring run $39-$43.75 per hour or about $350 month if a student comes twice a week, and there is a discount when a larger block of hours is purchased. The eight-week ACT prep course is $950, and the 12-week study skills class is $1,050.