WEST SPRINGFIELD – Students and families in West Springfield will continue to have access to free virtual tutoring over the next few months.

From Jan. 10 to April 12 the school district is hosting “Homework + Chromebook” after-school help for K-12 students who want assistance in their classes.

The program, which was also available to West Springfield students at the end of 2020, is being used as a way to provide as much help as possible to the district during remote and hybrid learning. Sessions are held on Zoom Sunday through Thursday; 5 to 7 p.m. for elementary school students, and 6 to 8 p.m. for middle and high school students.

According to Katy Graveline, who runs the program as a teacher at Memorial Elementary School, “Homework + Chromebook” support hours are held in two separate Zoom rooms for the two separate time slots. Within each of these rooms, there are multiple tutors made up of college students and teachers who assist students in any subject matter they need help in. The tutors will also answer any technological questions students or families may have.

“We felt that there would be an increased need for support during remote learning and wanted to provide our students and their families as much additional assistance as possible,” said Graveline.

Once students are in the main meeting room, the moderator of the room sends them to a breakout room with a tutor that can best meet the needs of the student, according to Graveline. This is where the one-on-one help comes into play.

“We also have certified special education teachers and those who specialize in working with English language learners,” said Graveline. “We are able to help families navigate the many educational platforms the district uses during online learning.”

Students use Chromebooks that were provided by the district for remote and hybrid learning. According to Graveline, each student has a Clever page where all of their educational applications are found. Students and families can find the direct link to the homework help Zoom meeting through this Clever page.

“We are working on making families aware of this opportunity to hopefully increase the number of students attending homework help,” said Graveline. “Each week varies in student visits, but we are hoping with grades closing, more students will make use of this time to get help in completing their assignments.”

According to Graveline, students are able to share their screens with tutors to show them their assignments or writing. Since the service is offered at night, students have the opportunity of logging onto to Zoom meeting to ask questions as their completing their homework. They can stay within that two-hour window for as long as they need, and are invited to come back the following nights.

“It is so important that West Springfield is providing students and their families with additional support during the pandemic,” said Graveline. “It is an opportunity for them to get one-on-one tutoring in something they may be struggling with.”

For those who do not have access to a Clever page, the Zoom ID numbers are included on the program’s flyer, which can be found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WzueMQob-wTy0NmL0ucCEKzcEblI7B2G/view.