The Saturday tutoring project began in November 1992. This voluntary program now serves 245 students in grades 1-12, of whom about 130 attend for three hours every week. There are 90 registered tutors, of which about one third are high school students, one third are college students, and one third are professionals from the community. Seventy percent of the tutors and all of the students are Hispanic. Approximately 20 percent of the students have limited English proficiency.
Students opt to participate in the program, often at the suggestion of parents, teachers, or peers.
Major Program Features Planning and design. The director's goal was to unify the Hispanic community and build on its strengths through a program that matched successful older students with younger ones, who would not only receive academic help but also benefit from the positive role models tutors provide. The program runs from November through mid-May. When possible, students are matched with tutors of the same gender, on the assumption that students will identify more readily with role models of the same gender. Tutors are trained to follow the county curriculum and state learning objectives for each grade level.