Cluster Tutoring

Our Success

Jamiya and Lia tutored together since Jamiya was in 2nd grade.

Cluster is proud of its track record and can boast the following results:

  • Creating relationships that endure. More than 80% of Cluster students and tutors return to the program each year.  On average, a Cluster student stays with the program for three years and a Cluster tutor stays for four years.
  • Improving reading skills. Cluster has a focus on literacy and assesses students’ fluency and/or vocabulary levels twice a year. At the end of the 2018-19 tutoring year, 80% of Cluster students had made progress in fluency, and over half improved their vocabulary skills.
  • Academic improvement. Cluster students submit a copy of their report card three times a year, and consistently 65% of students improve their grades or maintain an A or B average while attending tutoring.
  • Preparing students for life after high school. In the past 15 years, all Cluster students have graduated from high school in four years, and 90% enroll in college or a vocational training program within six months of graduation. In May 2020, all of our graduating seniors had college acceptances and were headed to college or a career development program.
  • College attendance. Graduates of Cluster Tutoring have gone on to a variety of community colleges and four-year institutions: Beloit College, Howard University, Johnson & Wales University, Morehouse College, Tufts University, Tuskegee University, University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
  • Awards received.  Cluster Tutoring has been a recipient of the Thomas A. Demetrio Award of Excellence from Lawyers Lend-a-Hand to Youth and the Sun-Times Literacy Award.

Testimonials

“Parents are struggling to find safe and affordable places for their children to attend to learn and have fun. You provide both. Thank you so much!”
— Tishara, mother of Jasmine, Jayla, and Jerron, who participated in Cluster’s Summer Reading Program

“I love Cluster. What an amazing program with genuine heartfelt people who truly care about their students. Like seriously, my childhood tutor was a medical PhD professor. It really doesn’t get better than that!”
 — Former student Brandon Markell Holmes, now a Chicago actor and singer

“My son has been with Cluster since kindergarten and he is doing well in school. The staff and volunteers are extremely nice. They truly care about the kids’ education.”
— Cluster parent Keiona