Tutor Responsibilities

• Need: We need volunteers to serve as one-on-one mentors to 7th through 12th graders in D.C. public schools and develop a special relationship with one student while working on academic skills, every Thursday during the school year.
• Commitment: 90 minutes every Thursday for a full school year (September through May). Come at 6:45pm ready to work at 7pm Stay until 8:15pm 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. Try to 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: Attend a 45-minute Orientation at 6:30pm on your first Thursday. Meet in Peter Marshall Hall on 5th floor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. Read the Tutor Handbook and attend our January Tutor Workshop. 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 125 young people and their families yearly.
• Transportation:
  • Metro stops: 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 pm sharp on 13th and 14th Streets.

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 Susannah Harris.

• Step 1: Attend an Orientation Meeting
  Orientation meetings take place every Thursday night at 6:30pm in the Lincoln Parlor at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. 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
  Some of what you read will seem overwhelming, but you’ll be better prepared.
• Step 2 for Us: Reference 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 complete the reference 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.