Tutoring Matters

2019/05 Mayor Sam Liccardo to Announce New SJ Learns @ Cesar Chavez Elementary School

The Program

The disruption of school learning, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, has had lasting impacts on students and families in San José. While all children faced challenges related to academic growth during this time, many students were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, particularly children in neighborhoods that are traditionally lower-resourced, English learners, homeless or foster youth, and youth of racial or ethnic communities experiencing achievement gaps. To offset the impact of pandemic-related learning loss and uplift children to high levels of student academic achievement, a special funding opportunity as part of SJ Learns was developed. The Tutoring Matters SJ Learns expansion grant was created to provide San José students in grades 4-12 with an opportunity to access high-quality tutoring services and accelerate growth towards academic goals. The program is funded with a one-time $2 million allocation from American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds. Grants were made available in Fall 2022 to qualified agencies and organizations that demonstrate the capacity to engage with schools, families, partners, and students to provide 1:1 or small group tutoring and academic recovery support. San José Public Library Foundation serves as the grant administrator providing technical assistance through an existing online grant management system (GMS), which is currently utilized for SJ Learns and Resilience Corps Initiatives

Working with the SJ Learns Committee, Innovate Public Schools (IPS) collaborated to identify qualified applicants and promote the program to families. The Memorandum of Understanding between IPS and the San José Public Library Foundation will further the collaboration, and evaluation of the program, between the two agencies in order to expand access to high-quality tutoring for students in San José .

Tutoring Matters Expansion Grant

An estimated $1.7 million in ARP funds will be granted over the next two years. The initial Tutoring Matters grantees were awarded between $60,000 and $188,000 to provide tutoring for San José’s most vulnerable students.

The remaining $922,431 will be awarded in Spring 2023.