Current Program

Each Thursday evening during the school year, 120 students and their tutors meet one-on-one at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, located just east of the White House, to do schoolwork, to talk, and to be together. Students come to Study Hall from middle and high schools across in the city. They come on their own or with family encouragement after hearing about Community Club from relatives or friends.

Our tutors become role models for their students. They offer a source of stability in the chaotic lives of adolescents. They take an active interest in how their students are doing in school, which often involves visits with teachers or counselors. They praise, reward and encourage their students to do well.

The student/tutor relationship often extends beyond Thursday evenings to special outings to movies or restaurants, visits to each other’s homes, and attendance at school events. Many tutors get to know their students' families. Together, student and tutor decide what shape the mentoring relationship will take. However much tutors give, they generally feel they receive far more from their students.

A student-tutor partnership typically lasts from two to six years, but many tutors and their students stay in touch long after graduation. They attend each other’s weddings, graduations and family funerals. Years later they still attend Club anniversary events and recruit tutors and students to the program. Over the decades, a more than 2,500 volunteers and 2,000 students have participated in the program.

Community Club has a number of services that supplement the core tutoring sessions:

• Stay-in-School Scholarships for students with good attendance and a 2.5 grade point average
• Partial scholarships and support meetings for Community Club alumni attending college. Since 2000, our graduates have received over $650,000 in college scholarships either awarded directly by Community Club, or through nominations by Community Club for outside scholarships
• An outdoor weekend event for students and tutors each October
• A College Team providing guidance on college selection, financing, and careers
• Substitute tutors who step in when a tutor is ill or out of town
• Training sessions for tutors including an all-day workshop each January
• A well-stocked library staffed with two librarians during Study Hall
• Trophies for the six most improved students each grading period
• Annual ceremony honoring Club graduates, Stay-in-School Scholars, and the Tutor of the Year