CHASKA, Minn. — At the Sylvan Learning Center in Chaska, the calls from parents keep coming.
"The last two weeks, we [have been] fielding as many phone calls as we possibly can, and testing [for placement] as many kids as we possibly can," said center director, Steven Johnson.
Johnson says many parents are trying to prepare for an uncertain school year.
"I think a lot of people had the mentality last spring of, 'We just have to get through the spring ... we just got to get through it,'" he said. "Now there seems to be the mentality of, 'Oh, guess what? This isn't going away. We need to do things differently and I want to make sure my children are keeping up.'"
Raveena Patel, owner and educational consultant of Tutor Doctor's Twin Cities franchise, says she has also been getting more calls over the last few weeks from families new to tutoring. She says families are looking for help with distance learning, whether their child's district is opting for distance learning full-time, or a hybrid learning model.
"They want some sort of supplemental help, as well," she said. "To say, 'Okay, if they're in the school two days, out of those three other days can we get another teacher or tutor in the home, to just kind of keep them engaged in school?'"
Tutor Doctor offers masked in-person home visits, as well as a virtual option.
Sylvan students can come to the center for in-person help, also masked, with a maximum of two kids per table at a time. Sylvan also offers virtual learning.
"Our virtual learning is different than e-learning, in that our students are still getting full-time attention from an instructor," Johnson said.
Both Johnson and Patel said parents should consider tutoring as a supplement to their child's school learning, not a replacement.
Patel said Tutor Doctor's prices vary from $50 to $61 per hour.
Sylvan Learning Center of Chaska says tutoring rates vary from $45 to $60 per hour, depending on how tuition is paid.