The Alexandria Tutoring Consortium (ATC) is a non-profit organization that recruits and trains volunteers to tutor kindergarten, first grade and second grade students in reading. ATC works in partnership with Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) and the community at large. Tutors receive training and continuous support in proven and effective tutoring methods.
The need for tutors is great and we would love your help. Volunteer today and change a child’s life!
Book Buddies
ATC offers the Book Buddies program, a tutoring model developed at the University of Virginia’s School of Education to teach struggling readers. It was specifically designed for use by community volunteers trained to tutor students individually, one-on-one. (Research shows that one-on-one tutoring gets significantly higher results than tutoring in pairs or groups.) ATC employs former teachers to train and oversee all tutors, write weekly lesson plans targeted to each child’s reading needs, and provide necessary reading materials.
Students in the ATC program are identified by Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) teachers as those who need reading support. Once parents or guardians give ATC permission to enroll a student, twice weekly tutoring sessions begin and are conducted October through May. Among ATC students, 87% belong to racial or ethnic minorities, 56% percent are English Language Learners. All students served by ATC are residents of the City of Alexandria. As of the 2024-2025 school year, ATC is tutoring in all 14 public elementary schools in Alexandria: Charles Barrett, Cora Kelly, Douglas MacArthur, Ferdinand Day, George Mason, James Polk, Jefferson-Houston, John Adams, Lyles-Crouch, Mount Vernon, Naomi Brooks, Patrick Henry, Samuel Tucker, and William Ramsay.
History
In 1996, the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) launched the “Primary Initiative” program with the goal that all students would be able to read and do math at grade level by the end of second grade. When the Rev. Gary Charles, then pastor of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, heard about the Primary Initiative, he joined with Dr. Herbert Berg, then superintendent of ACPS, and Judge Steve Rideout, then Chief Judge of the Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, to start the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium, a program that united local faith communities and elementary school principals, teachers, and reading specialists with the objective of providing reading tutors to first and second grade students in the public schools. Years ago, ATC expanded its recruiting base beyond the original member congregations in order to meet the growing need for tutors. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit since 2006, ATC is eligible to receive tax-deductible donations.
