Tutor Responsibilities

• NEED: We need volunteers to serve as one-on-one tutors/mentors to students, primarily in grades 7-12, from D.C. public and charter schools and develop a special relationship with one student while working on academic skills, every Thursday during the school year. If you are interested in becoming a tutor, please email Phil Telfeyan at ptelfeyan@communityclub.org or Tom Karr/Shamika Bradley at directors@communityclub.org.
• COMMITMENT: 80 minutes every Thursday for a full school year (September through May). Come at 6:50 p.m. ready to work by 7 p.m. Stay until 8:10 p.m. when announcements end. Most tutors also choose to spend time with their students on social occasions or special academic pursuits in addition to the Thursday night Study Hall commitment. Attend other events including Camp, the Tutor Workshop and the end-of-year Awards Ceremony. You'll meet and learn from other tutors and students.
• SKILLS: Tutors help with academic subjects, though not as professionals; spot and help remedy academic deficiencies; listen to and develop friendships with their students; and show they care about their students' progress.
• TRAINING: On your first Thursday at Community Club, attend a 45-minute Orientation, starting at 6:15 p.m., held in the Lincoln Parlor on the first floor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. Read the Tutor Handbook and Child Protection Policy. During the school year, attend our winter Tutor Workshop, where you'll learn basic and specialized teaching skills.
• BENEFITS: Tutoring gives you an opportunity to reach out to the Washington DC community; to work with students to conquer barriers to academic success; to meet other adults in a service setting; and to form an enduring bond with a young man or woman. We reach about 120 young people and their families yearly.
• TRANSPORTATION:
  • Metro stops: The Church is easy walking distance from McPherson Square and Metro Center;
  • Buses: D2/4/8, P2, X2/4, S2/4/42/60/80/81.
  • The best street parking is at 6:30 p.m. sharp on New York Avenue, H Street and 13th Street; there is also parking at 7:00 p.m. on 14th Street.

Orientation Process

Thanks for your interest in Community Club. Our program depends on volunteers like you. We require all new tutors to go through a three-step orientation process, outlined below. If you have any questions about this process or the program in general, please email Phil Telfeyan.

• Step 1: Attend an Orientation Session
  Orientation meetings take place during the school year on Thursday nights at 6:15 p.m. in the Lincoln Parlor at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. (When all tutoring positions have been filled, we halt orientations for the remainder of each school year. Please email us to confirm that we are still accepting new volunteers.) At the orientation meeting you will learn about the history of Community Club, get information about the basic operation of the program, and receive a copy of the Tutor Handbook. If you decide that you are ready to commit, you'll be asked to fill out a volunteer registration form. After your orientation session, your leader will take you up to the 5th floor of the church and show you the program in action.
• Step 2 for You: Read your Handbook and the Child Protection Policy.
  Some of what you read may seem a bit overwhelming, but you’ll be better prepared.
• Step 2 for Us: Reference and Background Check
  During the week following your orientation meeting, Community Club leaders will call your references and verify other information listed on your registration form. We hope all prospective tutors will understand the need for this verification process, as our primary goal is to provide a safe environment for our students. We will also do a confidential criminal background check. We complete the reference and background checks in one week so that you can be matched with a student as soon as possible. If we need more time, or have any questions about your application, we'll call you before the Thursday following your orientation. If you don’t hear from us, please come back at 6:45pm on the Thursday following your orientation, and we'll match you with a student.
• Step 3: Student Match
  On your “match night,” please go directly to the 5th floor of the church, enter the large hall through the door on your left. Our registrar will pair you with a student. Once you're matched, take down your student's address, parent names, phone numbers, and other important family and school information. This will help you find discussion topics – family members, hobbies and which subjects need more work during the first weeks. Give your student your phone number and some information about yourself, so you can begin to know and contact each other. With your student prepare and mail to their home the letter with a participation permission slip that their parent/guardian must sign and return.