Meeting People Where They Are

So far in 2020, we’ve lived through a pandemic, Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) ransomware attack, and an election, and we’ve seen how those events have impacted our community’s families. Last Tuesday alone, I had 5 consultation calls with students seeking support. Now more than ever, there is a lack of educational services at the community’s disposal, so we decided to change that.

Through all of the curveballs 2020 has thrown us, one thing has remained the same at Wright Academics: we are committed to meeting people where they are. When schools went virtual last spring, we bolstered our online tutoring offerings. Over the summer, we created programs to prevent students from falling behind. During the fall, we developed a drop off program and neighborhood pods for working parents. And now? We’ve adapted to the new COVID restrictions and ransomware attack. Over the past week, we offered Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday deals to make tutoring accessible for everyone. 2020 has been a beast. We’re feeling it too, and we want to meet YOU where YOU are. As the holidays approach, I wanted to give you a complete picture of our philosophy, offerings, and an idea of what’s coming soon.

Philosophy

The underlying principle in all of our programs is relationship. I firmly believe that connection is paramount, which is why we spend so much time up front gathering information in the consultation process. I want to make sure I match the student with the best tutor for THEM. We don’t just work with students; we connect with them, and many psychologists refer students to us for this specific reason. Thus, connection is at the forefront of all our offerings.

Another value we hold fast is creativity. We often come up with new programs based solely on the needs of the community. We run sales regularly to make tutoring more affordable. In addition to the sales, we developed the Wright Academics Scholarship Fund to make tutoring accessible for families in need. We believe creativity and accessibility go hand in hand.

Offerings

Drop-Off Program

We opened our offices to serve families and students this fall. We offer a space where students can be monitored by professional tutors. The tutor helps the student get online for their classes and answers any questions the student might have while completing their work. Our offices provide an engaging learning environment that fosters accountability. We provide a place for students to get as much as they can from their online classes. This program also gives working parents time and space to accomplish their tasks.

Neighborhood Pods

A neighborhood pod is a group of 3+ students that come together for at least a 3-hour chunk of time in their neighborhood. Our qualified tutors help students get online for classes, assist students when they get stuck, and guide them through educational activities if they finish their assignments early. Currently, we are looking into starting an Orton-Gillingham pod to best serve dyslexic students. We are unsure if the pod will be at our office or at a specific neighborhood, but we believe offering an Orton-Gillingham based pod will help dyslexic students get the most out of their studies.

Enrichment Groups

Our Enrichment Groups are in-person, small group workshops. Currently, we offer a Saturday Morning Super Reader Enrichment Group for our youngest readers and a Middle School Enrichment Group that is geared towards middle school students. The Middle School Enrichment Group focuses on ELA and hands-on math and science activities. While these enrichment groups were set to run for 5 weeks, we have chosen to extend them at the request of many parents and students. As a fun bonus, our Saturday Morning Super Reader Enrichment Group will culminate in a day of Polar Express themed reading activities in December.

Info

While we don’t know when or if we will receive an order to shut down in-person programs or tutoring, we do know we can host all of our offerings virtually. We’ve been offering online tutoring for a long time, so the pandemic has not presented as steep of a learning curve. It is worth noting, we are keeping all groups under 6 people, everyone wears a mask, and social distancing is enforced.

We’ve been harnessing creativity, feedback, and lots of hard work behind the scenes to serve our community in necessary ways. We look forward to continuing to serve you as we finish out 2020 and head into 2021. As always, we are here to meet YOU where YOU are!

Looking for academic support? To learn about the services we offer, click HERE.

About Evelyn Wright

Evelyn Wright is the Director of Wright Academics, a tutoring business created to target kids’ specific needs. Her passion is helping students and families succeed so that they achieve their maximum potential in and out of the classroom.

With over 25 years of experience working with children and their families in public and private schools, as well as in private practice, Evelyn’s focus is understanding the individual’s learning profile, guiding families of children with learning differences and matching students to the tutor or coach that best fits the student. She believes in not only matching educational needs to the right tutor’s skills, but matching a student to the tutor with the right personality.