See a need; fill a need.

Community Tutoring was birthed out of a desire to see students excel inside and outside of the classroom setting. Donya saw students struggling in the academic setting and chose to come up with a solution to meet the need.

The Dream

The educational disparities faced by African American students were undeniable. I’ve seen them first-hand as I work in the school system.

I established Community Tutoring to provide the necessary guidance and support to help students build a strong educational foundation.

Our mission is to support students in economically disadvantaged communities by offering personalized tutoring and holistic support. Recently, we achieved nonprofit status in Tennessee, which will help us expand our reach and impact.

Our dreams and goals for 2024-2025:

  • Recruiting More Volunteers: We welcome members of the community to serve a greater number of students.

  • Increasing Community Engagement: We invite community leaders, guest speakers, and professionals to inspire and mentor our students.

  • Establishing University Partnerships: We encourage university students in Knoxville to volunteer and support our kids.

At Community Tutoring, we believe in showing our students the success they can achieve. Join us in empowering Knoxville's youth and building a brighter future together.

The Work

We provide tutoring for FREE to remove the financial barriers that stand between our students and their ability to afford the help they need to be successful.

We serve students during two different sessions, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, from 4:30-6 pm and 6 - 7 pm.

We…

  • Create a safe supportive environment which allows our kids to learn and close educational gaps

  • Build trusting relationships with our kids

  • Help children build confidence in themselves to take chances educationally, accept corrections, and try again

  • Help kids feel comfortable in both the tutoring and classroom setting, to always do their best

  • We also believe that in order for a child to begin learning, their physical needs must be met. Therefore, with the help of our board members, meals are provided each night for our students.

The Future

Community Tutoring is looking to grow in numbers and space so we can make the most impact.

Our goal is to purchase vehicles that can help transport our students from school or home to Community Tutoring.

This would help families who want to participate in the program but cannot because of work or transportation issues.

We are also wanting to start implementing field trips.

  • Historically black landmarks, and museums

  • Library

  • Community events

We want to provide enrichment activities that will encourage them in their studies.

We cannot expect our kids to dream outside of their current circumstance if they have never seen anything else. Therefore, Community Tutoring’s ultimate goal is to focus on the entire wellbeing of each individual child.

Our Commitment

We are committed to putting “Kids First”.  Our aim is to close gaps in all academic areas, by providing an after-school tutoring program to help students with homework needs, and other areas of weakness.

We encourage students to strive for excellence in and out of the academic setting. We believe in taking the holistic approach to tutoring, by focusing on the entire well-being of the student, forming relationships with the families, and offering nutritional meals each night rather than just focusing solely on tutoring.

“We believe that in order for a child to care how much you know, they must first know how much you care”.