Free Tutoring & Mentoring for BPS Students
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How BPIE Mentoring Works
For over 50 years, Boston Partners in Education has matched Boston Public Schools students with experienced academic mentors to help students gain the skills, self-confidence, and motivation they need to succeed. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented new challenges to learning, we created the Independent Learning Support (ILS) program. ILS is our online model that matches BPS students with weekly tutoring and mentoring support at no cost to youth and families. Here’s how it works:
- Mentors meet with students online, for one hour a week, to help with classwork and homework.
- Any BPS student in grades 2-12 is eligible to be matched with a mentor in any school subject.
- Students and mentors meet at an agreed upon time outside of class time – after school or on weekends.
- To request tutoring/mentoring support, simply submit a nomination through our ILS form. Students under 18 may be nominated by a parent or guardian. Students 18 and older may nominate themselves for support.
What’s Independent Learning Support (ILS)?
In BPIE’s online Independent Learning Support model, mentors are connected with Boston Public Schools students who have self-identified or been identified by their families as benefiting from extra, focused academic support. Once matched, mentors will meet with students on Google Meet for a minimum of one hour per week for the duration of the school year.
In this model, mentoring sessions are not bound by school hours – students and mentors can meet at an agreed-upon time to review classwork, work on projects, and build skills in the student’s area of need. There will be a silent proctor attending and monitoring all mentoring sessions for the safety and security of all parties.
Student Benefits
100%
of families said they would recommend working with a BPIE mentor to other families
97%
of families said that working with a mentor helped their student improve in school
94%
of teachers said BPIE mentoring programs helped improve classroom participation
91%
of students said their mentor made them feel like they could succeed in school