22nd November 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A tutoring programme called ‘College Track’ has recently been awarded a grant of $1 million. The programme is based in the Bayview district of San Francisco, and has been operating since 1997 on a non-profit basis. They are hoping to double the number of students they can tutor as a result of the additional funding. College Track’s main goal is to help students apply to California State University, or a University of California school.
The money will largely go towards renovating a 13,000 square-foot historic building in Bayview-Hunters Point, which will help to increase the number of students tutored from 200 to 500. The outside of the building will be maintained, but the inside will be completely changed, and will include a computer lab, tutoring rooms, a workshop, a kitchen, and quiet study areas.
The grant will help the programme to cope with demand. They receive 3 times the number of places that are available, but $1 million allows them to increase the student population by 150%. However, currently they have only 60 volunteer tutors, and this number needs to increase to 150-200 to be able to adequately help the increased number of students. Most of the tutors are college students, or working professionals.