By Lauren Saslow
The second semester of the school year can be a stressful time of the year for students, parents and teachers. With high-stakes standardized tests during the spring months such as CELLA (Comprehensive English Language Learning Assessment), FCAT, EOC (End Of Course), Advanced Placement (AP) tests, the SAT and the ACT, it can be an academic (and acronymic) nightmare for parents and teachers, as they do their best to prepare students for success.
Some students require more attention than any teacher can feasibly offer in a standard classroom, where public school teacher-to-student ratios can reach 1:18 in Pre-Kindergarten-3rd grade, 1:22 in grades 4-8 and up to 1:25 in high school core classes.
Parents often seek additional support for their child’s education outside of the school in the form of private tutoring. However, finding a qualified and convenient learning environment can be challenging and pricey. The Tutoring Center, located off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and County Line Rd. in the former Sweetbay (now Winn-Dixie) shopping center, offers qualified one-on-one instruction for students in kindergarten through high school, all at competitive rates.
Tutoring Center director Stephen Heverly opened the 1,200-sq.-ft. franchise more than four years ago and continues to experience success, which he attributes, at least in part, to foot traffic provided by the nearby LA Fitness and Five Guys Burgers & Fries.
“Parents want a convenient place where they can spend an hour (shopping, eating or working out) after they drop off their child for tutoring,” Heverly says.
Heverly — a Florida-certified professional teacher in the areas of English and Journalism, with an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) endorsement — still teaches English full-time at Freedom High in Tampa Palms, while supervising a staff of nine tutors and two interns year-round.
Most of the tutors are students attending the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa or University of Tampa downtown, although one tutor, Laura Boatright, currently teaches at Seven Oaks Elementary in Wesley Chapel and another tutor is a retired teacher. Interns are selected by identifying the top two AP English Literature students from FHS each year, then offering them the opportunity (along with training) for the position.
All tutors (including Heverly) and interns must also pass a math test with a minimum of 80 percent, but Heverly boasts that most of his instructors earn at least a 90 percent and one even earned a perfect score!
“We try to hire young tutors who relate better to the students,” explains Heverly. “The tutors also act as positive role models, especially for struggling high school students.”
Heverly earned his B.S. in Education from Lock Haven University in Lock Haven, PA, and an M.B.A. from Nova Southeastern University in Tokyo, Japan (a campus which no longer exists), where he lived for a total of 18 years. Heverly moved to Japan for a position as a professor of ESOL at the Kanda Institute of Foreign Language, before becoming the school’s curriculum supervisor for the freshman English program. He then worked in marketing and public relations for nearly eight years before returning to teaching English at the Nevada International College (Tokyo campus), a program intended to prepare students for the necessary English language skills required for them to transfer to the University of Nevada’s Tokyo campus.
In Japan, Heverly said he learned that every school (elementary through post-secondary levels) has its own entrance exams, which makes attending desirable schools very competitive. In Japan, he noticed that student success was attributable in part to after-school tutoring known as “cram schools” or “juku,” citing that “90 percent of students go to after-school programs.”
When he returned to the U.S., settling in Temple Terrace, Heverly wanted to not only teach in the classroom, but also open a tutoring business where students could gain confidence, motivation and improve focus. He researched different programs, but was disappointed to find that most had expensive tuition and a teacher-to-student ratio of 1:6. After a significant amount of research, he decided to open a Tutoring Center franchise because of the company’s affordable tuition and one-on-one approach to tutoring.
“I continue to teach full-time, partially because of the connections (to the students and curricula they have to learn),” says Heverly. As a public school teacher, he participates in ongoing professional development (including training in the new Common Core State Standards) and receives regular updates about new state laws and policies, which he shares with parents on his “Education Board” in the front window of the Center.
“Parents see my Education Board and walk in to ask questions and find out more about our tutoring program,” Heverly says, adding that he will even attend the parent conference meetings at schools the center’s students attend. One parent, Ellie M., a Lakes of Northwood in Wesley Chapel resident, has an elementary-aged son who has attended tutoring three times weekly since October 2013 who says she appreciates Heverly’s involvement.
“At first my son did not want to go to tutoring,” she recalls. “Now he loves it! I have seen improvement in his grades, confidence and focus.”
Heverly also makes donations to other schools’ Parent-Teacher-Student Associations (PTSAs) and has business partnerships with many area schools, including Louis Benito Middle School on Cross Creek Blvd. and Seven Oaks Elementary, where Boatright teaches.
A Rotational Approach To Learning
Founded in California in 1994 by Edward S. Thalheimer, Ph.D., The Tutoring Center has a “rotational approach to learning.” It was originally designed for students suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but has since opened up to all students seeking academic enrichment outside of their school. The system operates under the assumption that students lose focus after working on the same task for more than 30 minutes, and allows each student to rotate during the course of one hour between three individualized learning stations at time intervals of 30 minutes, 15 minutes, and then another 15 minutes.
The program begins with a free diagnostic assessment and a free consultation with parents. Heverly says, “Most competitors’ tutoring programs charge for the diagnostic, but most of the time the diagnostic tells parents what they already know. That’s why the parent consults you in the first place.” Generally speaking, he explains, parents are seeking support in order to help their child either catch up or get ahead.
Grand Hampton resident Joanne Cline’s son Noah is a perfect example of both. Cline says that Noah began tutoring in January 2013, after testing below grade level in reading skills as a first grader. Not only did he reach grade level reading skills this school year, he is now at a third grade reading level! Cline says, “Noah also is more self-confident and can adjust to changing academic requirements. He has an interest in learning and a newfound love for subjects (like science) because he can read and understand.”
At The Tutoring Center, there are no contracts, and family discounts are available for parents requiring tutoring for more than one child, a bonus for parents like Wesley Chapel residents Paul and Michelle Ignat, who have two sons. Their fourth and fifth graders both attend Double Branch Elementary in Wesley Chapel and have participated in the program for five months. The Ignats say they are delighted with their sons’ recent report cards and the improvement the Center has helped them make.
Michelle Ignat adds, “Steve is great with the boys, and has even attended one of my son’s baseball games! The individual tutoring is starting to show benefits already.”
The Tutoring Center is located at 6431 County Line Rd., Ste. 111, in New Tampa. For more information, call 991-9888 or visit Tampa.TutoringCenter.com. The center is open Monday-Thursday, 2:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., 8:30 am – 12:30 pm on Saturdays and Fridays by appointment for assessments and consultations.
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