Education Professionals Endorse Bay Area Tutoring Association as it Prepares Students to Meet
Educational Requirements of California Common Core State Standards
The Common Core State Standards were adopted August 2012, and expect to be fully implemented by the end of the current (2013/2014) school year. The Common Core State Standards are poised to be the next step to providing future United States generations with a high-quality education.
San Francisco Bay Area: After more than 10 years in development, Bay Area Tutoring Association (BATA) founder Chris Norwood announced today the launch of the organization with the goal of facilitating student academic development as area schools adopt California’s Common Core Standards. The organization is a collective of tutors, parents, students, community members, grass roots organizations and business leaders who share a desire to invest in the future prosperity of the San Francisco Bay Area. Norwood, former CEO of XCEL Educational Services, and his team each possess more than 10 years experience working with students, schools and school districts across the Bay Area, sharing their expertise with intervention and enrichment program development, one-to-one, small group and workshop tutoring services, standardized test prep and parent empowerment.
Norwood remarked “As a parent and education advocate, I’m excited to play an active role in the development of an academic tutoring workforce and parent empowerment organization that will complement our school districts. Common Core will transform the way students are taught and evaluated. It’s vital that Bay Area students, schools and parents are endowed with the tools, programs and complimentary resources they require to embrace and adopt this change.”
Leon Beauchman, president of the Santa Clara County Office of Education and president of the Santa Clara County Alliance of Black Educators agrees, “Services like Bay Area Tutoring Association will be critical for many students in reaching their academic potential and empowering parents. Parents can’t assume schools are providing all the resources needed for success. They should be proactive in exploring all options.”
Bay Area advocates for academic success are also encouraged by the endeavor. Dr. Jarvis Sulcer, Executive Director of Oakland-based Level Playing Field Institute (LPFI), stated, “Student success with Common Core State Standards will require academic support in school and outside of the classroom. The Bay Area Tutoring Association is a much needed resource for students, parents, schools and organizations with education initiatives to fill that void.”
“One of the primary goals of the California PTA is to secure for all children and youth the highest advantages in physical, mental, social, and spiritual education,” commented Patti Young, former elementary and junior high school PTA president. “With the transition to Common Core Standards, PTA’s have an opportunity to support their student and parent members by sponsoring specialized after school programs and other tutoring services to help ready their students for this change.”
ABOUT Bay Area Tutoring Association:
The Bay Area Tutoring Association is committed to working with students of all ages, from kindergarten through college and hopes to ease the transition for students and their parents in the wake of Common Core implementation. The association strives to erase the achievement gap by providing varied levels of service, including trained, competent academic coaching resources to schools and school districts. Bay Area Tutoring Association offers parent empowerment seminars and webinars, Common Core Math Camps and workshops, after school programs and tutoring services in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Cruz counties. To inquire about BATA services, please visit www.bayareatutor.org. View the inaugural BATA Newsletter Video
501(c)(3) pending; fiscal sponsor available on request.
