Tutor Learning Superheroes with Accelerate Northfield at Greenvale Park Elemenatry School

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Accelerate Northfield is a collaboration among parents, community members and organizations dedicated to improving the academic performance of students in the Northfield, MN area. Nearly all of the students assisted in their studies have attended School District 659’s three elementary schools. Doing the heavy lifting in encouraging students to take steps toward "Learning Superhero" status - in other words, making strides in academic performance - has been community volunteers. These tutors, ranging in age from college students to seniors, work with youngsters either on a one-on-one basis or in small groups in reading or math. Accelerate Northfield continues to seek community members to join its team of tutors. Information about becoming a tutor appears on Accelerate Northfield’s website, www.acceleratenorthfield.org .

A focal point in Accelerate Northfield’s efforts is closing Northfield’s achievement gap, the disparity in educational achievement among groups of students along economic, racial/ethnic or gender lines. Statistically speaking, students of color and those from economically stressed households lag behind their classmates in standardized test scores and graduation rates.

The achievement gap is an issue facing schools not only in Northfield, but statewide, as well.

While working with students needing a boost in academics is an emphasis of Accelerate Northfield, it’s not the entire story of the organization’s efforts. Accelerate Northfield’s tutors regularly work with students across the educational spectrum, including high achievers.

Learn more about Accelerate Northfield at www.acceleratenorthfield.org.

There is one requirement that Accelerate Northfield seeks in volunteers: they possess a desire to help students transform into learning superheroes. Tutors are asked to work in district schools at least one hour each week, although most put in more time than that.

Following a simple registration process (online signup through Accelerate Northfield and a background check administered by Northfield Public Schools), tutors are provided with access to Accelerate Northfield’s electronic database of tutor requests from district teachers. The database, called the matching site, is categorized by teacher, school, subject and tutoring times.