Frequently Asked Questions

Where are you located?

What are your hours?

How do I get a tutor?

How do I become a literacy/ESL volunteer tutor?

How often do I meet with my tutor/student and for how long?

Is there training for tutors? When is the tutor training?

What is the tutor training schedule?

What is the content of the training?

Who are the trainers? What are their qualifications?

Is there support for tutors? Materials? What do I do if/when I have questions/problems with my student?

Are there any costs involved?

Who do you serve? (Who are our students?)

Where are you located? We are located in the Bergen Community College Ciarco Learning Center at 355 Main Street, Hackensack NJ 07601 in Rooms 105, 106, & 107.

What are your hours? We are open from 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday. .

How do I get a tutor? First, please phone or email to make an appointment. When you come in to our office we will help you fill out an application and talk with you. Because we usually have a waiting list, our staff will suggest homework for you to do daily while you are waiting for a tutor. When a tutor becomes available we will call you. Then, your tutor will contact you and you will begin to meet together.

How do I become a literacy/ESL volunteer tutor? Please call or email to let us know you are interested! We want to speak with you to get to know you and discover what subject you want to tutor.

How often do I meet with my tutor/student? Once you are matched with your tutor or student, you will meet once a week for one and one-half hours.

Is there training for tutors? When is the training? We offer training for tutors of basic literacy and English as a second language. We do not offer training for math tutors. We usually hold training in the fall and in the spring.

What is the tutor training schedule? Our tutor training sessions are held in the evenings. We usually meet on Wednesday evenings, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, for five consecutive weeks.

What is the content of the training? We follow the Literacy Volunteers of New Jersey Training for Adult Literacy Tutors program. During the training course we talk about the tutor-student relationship, goal setting, techniques and approaches for teaching skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing,how to determine what your student is able to do and what they need to learn, how to plan lessons, and how to use materials.

Who are the trainers and what are their qualifications? Our tutor trainer is Antonio Brugnoli. Antonio has been working with adult students for many years and has successfully completed LVNJ training.

Is there support for tutors? Materials? What do I do if/when I have questions/problems with my student? We offer ongoing tutor support. We have an open-door policy and expect to see both tutors and students stopping by on a regular basis - just to say hi, to ask a question, or to talk over a problem. If you and your student/tutor have a question or a problem, please let us know! We are here to help. We also have a library of workbooks and reading materials available for tutors to borrow as aids in working with their students.

Are there any costs involved? There are no costs to the student. There is a $20 fee for materials provided for tutor training.

Who do you serve? Our students come from the greater Bergen County area. All of our students are adults. They range in age from 18 to 80, and all want to improve their reading skills, their writing skills, and/or their speaking skills. Many of our students want to pass the GED to earn a high school equivalency diploma and continue to college. Most of our students want to get a job or a better job. All of our students want to improve their lives.