Sitting down at her desk, English teacher Stephanie Vu begins her workday at seven in the morning. She clicks on an email from a student, stating that Tutor.com resolved their question about a topic they worked on yesterday.
“Some students just want a second set of eyes,” Vu said. “I think that somebody looking at your writing is very important.”
Students used Tutor.com during the last school year for everything from essay reviews to SAT prep. Some of them, like junior Maximilliano Munoz, found it beneficial for their grades, using it for chemistry homework.
“I felt good about Tutor.com because you could ask any questions that you wanted and they would provide useful information regarding that question,” Munoz said.
Many high school students and children feel nervous or embarrassed to ask questions in classes out of fear of being seen as incompetent, and tutoring services let students seek help in a less stressful way. However, this year, FCPS changed the service they use to Varsity Tutors; an educational service that provides one-on-one tutoring sessions, group classes and self study resources at any time.
“Students have free access to chat tutoring,” assistant principal Sonny Romine said, ”They even have preset buttons where you can select a subject you need support in.”
To access Varsity Tutors, sign into the Clever app portal and scroll down to the FCPS Applications List. One-on-one tutoring services are completed through chat boxes instead of video calls, useful for students who’d prefer to be more private. To the right, there is a smartboard built for tutors to draw more complex ideas. Tutoring chat 
sessions can last up to 45 minutes, and it will take up to five minutes for the program to find a tutor.
“I think the change could be beneficial. However, there’s not too much information regarding Varsity Tutors yet,” Munoz said. “If this is their first year and many students use it, there will be more feedback by the end of the school year.”
Varsity Tutors uses AI in some of its features, such as personalized learning plans. Despite some uneasiness about the AI components, some students look forward to the future of Varsity Tutors. With over 230 subjects such as Chemistry, English, Calculus and more, Varsity Tutors has a large portfolio for many students.
