C2 Education, a tutoring center which aims improve scholastic achievement for students across the performance spectrum at all grade levels, will open in Deerfield Jan. 15 at 190 Waukegan Road.
Already open in Winnetka, Glenview and Vernon Hills, the company tailors its programs to each individual student whether they want to get better grades or improve standardized test scores, according to C2 Education District Manager Priscilla Park.
When it comes to helping teens do well on the ACT and SAT college entrance exams, C2 makes its instructors get a firsthand look at what the students will be doing. They must also do it very well.
“We require a high IQ,” Park said. “Our tutors have to take the current SAT, even if they just graduated Northwestern, and score 750 out of 800 which puts them in the 99th percentile. They have to know what the students are seeing to help them with it.”
Students get a dose of reality too.
“We use actual tests as the practice exams,” Park said.
Though many more students at Deerfield and Highland Park Schools take the ACT rather than the SAT, Park thinks teachers who score at the top on the SAT are well suited to preparing people for both.
“The ACT is generally considered easier so someone who understands the SAT will be able to help them too,” Park said.
The ACT is a graduation requirement at Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools but the SAT is optional, according to Township High School District 113 Superintendent George Fornero. Of the 940 who graduated from the two schools in 2014, 75 took the SAT.
While one of C2’s major focus is test preparation, it is about much more than that, according to Park. It wants to help struggling students become succeed, average learners achieve more and high performing children climb higher.
“We do help with exams like SAT and ACT but we want to help with all aspects of school,” Park said. “We want to help with GPA [grade point average] management. We want to help with all kinds of programs.”
Park did not deny the company targets areas with highly regarded schools. She said the quality of the schools in a market area is one of the considerations the company looks at to determine a location.
Deerfield is a prime location for C2 not only because of its proximity to Deerfield High School and Deerfield Public Schools District 109’s places of learning, but also Highland Park and Lake Forest, according to Park.
“We’re in the process of talking to guidance counselors at the [District 113] schools,” Park said. She also said there will be outreach to District 109 along with North Shore School District 112 in Highland Park and Highwood. There will be discussions with officials at Lake Forest High School as well as Lake Forest District 67 and Lake Bluff District 65.
A C2 staff member will meet with perspective students and their parents to create a program to meet that person’s needs. There will be regular feedback to the family as well as both scheduled and drop in tutoring.
“Every program is individualized,” Park said. “We meet with parents as often as once a week and at least once a month.”
Students can spend all the time they need with a tutor or drop by for 30 minutes before a test, according to Park. She said the cost will range between $40 and $50 an hour.