Tutoring Policy

Tutoring Policy
September 11, 2002

The following policy replaces any and all previous policies on tutoring.

Although the school will make every effort to provide the instruction and support to help each student thrive, some students may require additional support beyond the instruction in the classroom. In order to ensure clear communication and to avoid any potential conflicts of interest, the following guidelines will be followed:

1. A recommendation for tutoring or educational therapy for any student may be made only after consultation with the Upper or Lower School Learning Specialist and with the approval of the Head of Lower or Upper School. A discussion among the learning specialist, teachers and the parents regarding the student's particular needs and a review of the child's educational records will help the Learning Specialist make the appropriate recommendations. The Learning Resource Department will keep a file of tutors and educational therapists who are familiar with our program and qualified to serve the special learning needs of some of our students.
2. The Learning Specialist will consider the specific qualifications of tutors or educational therapists when making recommendations for a student. The Learning Specialist will always try to match the student's particular educational needs with the specific training and background of the tutor or educational therapist.
3. All tutors and educational therapists will be given information by the Learning Resource Department about the school's expectations regarding the reporting of the progress of students being tutored. Regular communication by phone or in writing with the learning specialists and/or teachers of the child being tutored is required of all tutors and educational therapists. An end of the year written progress report is requested. This report can be a bullet point listing of skills covered and progress made by the student. This end of the year progress report is required by all SFDS teachers who tutor SFDS students. A written progress report of summer tutoring is required of all San Francisco Day School staff who tutor SFDS students over the summer and is requested of all outside tutors and educational therapists.
4. San Francisco Day School faculty may not tutor students currently in their classes. During the summer, San Francisco Day School faculty may not tutor students who will be or have been in their classes immediately prior to or immediately following the summer, unless special exemption is granted by the Head of Lower or Upper School. For example, a fourth grade teacher can not tutor a child who just finished the third grade or a child who was in the fourth grade teacher's class and is going into the fifth grade.
5. Upon approval by the Head of Lower or Upper School and the Learning Specialist, faculty may use any available space on school days to tutor SFDS students, as a convenience to parents. Tutoring by faculty can only occur before 8:00 a.m. and after 3:00 or 3:30 p.m. dismissal. Use of space other than a teacher's classroom or the library must be checked with the office staff to avoid scheduling conflicts. Faculty members may not tutor students from other schools at San Francisco Day School. If a student formerly attended SFDS and has a sibling still attending SFDS, then a faculty member may tutor that student on the school site. Approved after school program space needs will take priority over requests for tutoring spaces.
6. Students in the upper school (grades 5-8) may only be tutored during study hall and then only by outside tutors or educational therapists.
7. Students in the lower school who receive tutoring for only one session each week will be tutored outside of the regular school hours. Students in the lower school who receive tutoring for two sessions or more per week will be tutored outside of the regular school hours (including before and immediately after school) unless approval is granted by the Lower School Learning Specialist and the Head of Lower School. Approval for this exception will be made if the teacher, learning specialist and administrator feel that for one or more of those sessions it would be in the student's best interest to receive such tutoring during school hours. In such cases, the Classroom Teacher and the Lower School Learning Specialist will determine the appropriate time during the schedule for such tutoring to occur.
8. The school will carefully evaluate the progress of any student requiring tutoring more than two times per week to determine whether or not SFDS is an appropriate school for that student.