New tutoring center opens in Old Town
If your child needs a little extra help with homework, there’s a new place in Pocatello that is willing to help. Maggie’s Place Learning Center just opened in Old Town and is offering tutoring services for anyone who needs it.
The tutoring services it mainly focuses on is K through 12 but managing director Sheryl Gittings said that they can also help college students who may need help with a subject, or even adults working to get their GED.
“We just see that there is still a continuous need in Eastern Idaho for students to get extra support outside of school,” Gittings said. “Teachers can only do so much with the time they have with students during the day and some students just need that little extra help. We also help students that may be taking extra hard classes. So remedial help as well as advanced help is what we offer.”
Gittings said it offers help with the basics like English, math and science but it’s not limited to just those.
“We can find tutors for pretty much any subject so if we don’t have one currently, then we’ll put out the search for someone when there’s a need,” Gittings explained.
There is also a Maggie’s Place location in Idaho Falls that has been open for about a year and has 80 students.
Gittings said they saw a need in Pocatello and there’s a great partnership opportunity with Idaho State University for tutoring services as well.
When asked if there tends to a subject where students need help more than others, Gittings said it really comes down to the basics.
“What I’ve seen so far is it’s those 3rd through 7th graders that are really struggling in ELA and mathematics,” Gittings said. “I think there’s just not enough time in the day for teachers to get everything in that they need to get in. and there’s not enough time in the evening for parents to help and get those core subjects down and often I find that if they don’t understand reading, they’re not going to understand math and science because there’s so much reading that goes into those subjects so we start with those core competencies.”
Gittings said they also offer free assessment to see where a child is at and what they might need the most help in.
Maggie’s Place is having a grand opening Saturday, Sept. 15 from 2 p.m.to 5 p.m.
The tutoring center is located at 348 W Clark Street. Gittings said there will be light refreshments and people can meet the three tutors they have on staff.
Maggie’s Place is open Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and may open for some Saturday hours, depending on need.
Depending on the type of tutoring and the grade level, the price varies anywhere from $30 to $60 per hour. Gittings said there are discounts available for those who come multiple times a week.
