The language hallway is empty and quiet during Monday tutorial as I sit at a long table scattered with German and Spanish magazines, waiting for students to come for help.

So far, nobody has.

The move from the Upper Library hasn’t made any difference, aside from more loneliness now that the other tutors are scattered across the school.

Since its inception, the Upper School tutoring program has struggled. Although the list of junior and senior tutors stretches long and wide, few students show up during tutorial times for help. The Upper School Council organized the program so that at least one tutor per subject is present each day of the week. In early November, tutors moved from the library to departmental locations in hopes of improving attendance numbers.

However, student tutors continue to tutor no one. I swear that not everyone who walks through the halls of St. Paul Academy and Summit School completely understands all the material they’re learning. So why the empty tables, and how can this be fixed?

Since the new locations of tutors are so close to classrooms, a student seeking help would probably rather talk to a teacher than a random upperclassman they don’t know. The change in location also has other flaws. “I understand the concern of underclassmen being intimidated by a whole group of seniors in the library, but I think it’s harder [now] for them to go all over the school to find the people they need,” senior tutor Sydney Kuller said. Also, freshmen and sophomores check in with advisories during tutorial, limiting the tutors’ visibility to students.

Kuller has not yet been able to tutor anyone as part of the program. “When I originally signed up I thought that I would be paired with specific students or [a] student who were interested in being tutored in the subjects I had offered to help in,” she said, “and then we would set up times to meet and help them with whatever they needed.”

Kuller suggested that USC should pair tutors up with specific people who want help or who teachers believe could use some help. This would mirror how USC organized the mentoring program, which began at the same time as tutoring. This change would at the very least make the program more alive than it is now.

Early in the school year when the program was still in the Upper Library, I also saw very few tutors show up during tutorial. This suggests a lack of monitoring by USC; Kuller’s idea for predetermined pairings would make tutoring responsibilities urgent enough for tutors to follow them. If USC arranges specific tutoring pairs or groups in the future, it should also have some element of flexibility to still allow students to find tutors during tutorials without prior appointment.

In all fairness, USC’s tutoring program has benefited some students. “I’ve gone to talk to the science tutors one time and it was amazingly helpful,” sophomore Ingrid Topp-Johnson said. She had wondered if the tutors would actually have a good understanding of the material and was pleasantly surprised. Upper School science teacher Tina Barsky had referred Topp-Johnson to the tutors, which suggests that teachers could play a pivotal role in assisting the program by encouraging students to use it.

Tutoring should be an open resource for Upper School students to feel comfortable and confident enough to rely on when needed. As discussed in The Rubicon staff editorial from the October issue, non-tutor students can also help grow the tutoring program by understanding that seeking help, far from being shameful, is an admirable action.

To read the News story on tutoring, click here.