A new tutoring center promises to be different than others by adding tan extra personal touch of care and guidance, claim the owners.
Anew Beginning Tutoring Center’s owner Deborah Schmidt held her grand opening in September at her learning center at 2905 Scott Place off East Tremont Avenue, but her businesses has been around a lot longer as an in-home tutoring service.
A self-trained tutor who has been working with children since the 1980s when she was a volunteer at Crossway Christian Center’s programs, Schmidt believes in encouraging children who may have otherwise fallen through the cracks of traditional school-based programs.
A mother of three,Schmidt has been tutoring professionally since 1992. She said that she worked for in-home tutoring services prior to establishing her own businesses. One of the reasons that she founded her own service, which was incorporated in 2007, was that she saw that students’ progress was not being sufficiently monitored by other tutoring agencies.
“I have the tutors who work for me write progress reports for each students, and give each student a pre-test prior to being tutored, and a post-test after three months,” Schmidt said. “If their score decreases or stays the same, I talk with the tutor.”
Schmidt said that every child is different and she has learned that often the kids whom she sees are coming to her because they feel they cannot succeed academically. Changing their attitude about learning by making the child more self-confident then becomes the goal.
“Oftentimes, the students have been beaten down, and it is our job to encourage them to be successful, even if it is in small ways.” Schmidt said. “I have taught hundreds of kids to read. You can have a degree, but experience is more valuable sometimes. I believe that God gave me a gift.”
While Schmidt has earned education credits, her academic training is mostly in nursing. She has a staff of certified teachers who tutor in the core subjects: English Language Arts, Math, and Writing. She is knowledgeable in literacy training because she ran a free after-school tutoring program for needy students that provided free tutoring in Mott Haven for eight years.
Anew Beginning offers tutoring by appointment for solid foundations in all subject areas. The learning center also offers test prep in S.A.T., Independent School Entrance Exam, Test for Admission into Catholic High School, ACT, Nursing exams, and others. The center also helps prepare students for the G.E.D.
Schmidt said that she learned the a value of education while living in poverty as a young single mother, attempting to escape an abusive relationship. In fact Schmidt, who was living with her grandmother as a young single mother, said she got help in getting her first apartment from Jimmy Vacca in 1984, when then director of the North East Bronx Senior Center, where her grandmother worked.
She believes that her hard-earned experience can make much of the difference in helping students from all parts of the community to believe in themselves. She said she and her tutors will do whatever it takes to help students succeed.
“I think that my center offers more of a personal touch,” she said. “This is something that is long overdo in the Throggs Neck community.”
For more information on Anew Beginning, call (347) 828-7860.
