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Online tutoring available 24/7 for students in Pittsburgh Public Schools

Online tutoring available 24/7 for students in Pittsburgh Public Schools
Online tutoring available 24/7 for students in Pittsburgh Public Schools 02:08

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Homework and studying can be stressful for students and parents, but now, Pittsburgh Public Schools will have access to an online tutor 24/7.

It can be challenging for parents to juggle work, their kids' school schedules, and help with homework.

Pittsburgh Public Schools has partnered with tutor.com, which will provide free, one-to-one tutoring to K-12 students anytime, anywhere.

K-12 students now have access to free, one-to-one tutoring anytime, anywhere.

"If at any point they're struggling with any of the problems they're working on, they connect right away with an expert tutor whether it's 3 in the afternoon or heaven forbid three in the morning," said Suzanne Podhurst, who is the vice president of Institutional Marketing and Corporate Communications for Tutor.com and The Princeton Review.

Podhurst said they're removing barriers of access to tutoring. 

The tutors can provide learning assistance in 218 subjects, whether a student needs help with tough math problems, improving writing skills, or studying for a test.

"They can drop off their writing for review and get detailed feedback from an expert tutor within 12 hours. They also have a bunch of self-paced resources that are available, so test prep from the Princeton Review, a resource library, practice quizzes," Podhurst said.

She said their encouraging tutors go through a rigorous vetting process.

Students can connect with a tutor via two-way text-chat or voice with text-chat.

"They can work with their tutor in our proprietary online classroom, which has so many great features. It has a whiteboard, it has text and coding screens, a graph paper and graph and calculator," Podhurst said.

The first day of school is Aug. 28, 2023. The hope is that this new tutoring program will help students work through challenges and solve problems on their own.

"By making individualized academic support available on an unlimited basis for every district student, we aim to meet learners' needs and support their achievement. By partnering with Tutor.com, we are ensuring that every student can get help—whenever they need it, as frequently as they need it, in whatever they're studying." - Dr. Wayne N. Walters, Superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Podhurst said every student deserves a personal tutor, which can reduce homework stress for kids and parents.

"Having that extra layer of support where students can get help when they need it, after school hours and again if parents are not able either for logistical or maybe they themselves didn't take calculus in high school for example… that they know that their students have access to that one-to-one tutoring," she said.

PPS has a step-by-step guide on how to use tutor.com on the school district's website, https://www.pghschools.org/tutoring.

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