Help a child learn to love reading and learning!

Change a Child’s Life

As you’ve heard, our kids are struggling with reading and writing. At the end of the 2022/2023 school year, reading scores were recorded as the lowest in decades.

By volunteering for just an hour a week at a local school, you can change the trajectory of a student’s life. Elementary students who are paired with an Oasis tutor show:

• Increases in Reading Skills
• Higher Levels of Class Participation
• A Lower Likelihood of Truancy

Teaching experience is not required! Oasis staff will provide you with the training and materials you need to make a big impact in a short period of time.

Depending on your local School District, you may be required to provide the following:

• Live Scan Fingerprint Background Check
• Negative TB Test
• Proof of COVID-19 Vaccine

For more information, please reach out to Michelle Irby at [email protected].

Depending on your local School District, you may be required to provide the following:

• Live Scan Fingerprint Background Check
• Negative TB Test
• Proof of COVID-19 Vaccine

For more information, please reach out to Michelle Irby at [email protected].

Older adults enjoy giving back to help children make significant progress in school

San Diego Oasis Tutors help students improve test scores in reading and math while opening the doors for seniors to put their life skills to work for a younger generation.

“During our first session we completed part of the “All About Me” booklet, talking and writing together. At the end of the session, I said “I’ll see you next week.” and my student responded, “Oh, good. That was fun!” We’ve been having “fun” ever since.”

-Sherry Patheal, Tutor (Fletcher Elementary, San Diego Unified District)

One on One Tutoring Works

Samantha missed 100 days of kindergarten and was now behind in learning in the second grade. She hid behind long bangs over her brow and initially would not make eye contact. Her parents were going through a divorce and she was not coping well. Chris, a San Diego Oasis tutor, was assigned to Samantha for help with her reading.  Ironically, Chris had a similar experience with parents divorcing.  She even wrote a book about her feelings as a child growing up with a harsh step-father in post-war Germany titled “A Bucketful of Love.”

Chris started to talk to Samantha, share and read with her. In just a few months, Samantha was making progress. She proved to be bright and sociable. Now, she has her hand up eager to answer questions and she even pulled her hair back. In Measures of Academic Success testing administered by the school, she achieved an astonishing increase in test scores of twenty points! Typical student progress throughout the year is eight points for that grade and age group. The teacher was stunned and grateful to our Oasis tutor for helping Samantha thrive.

Finding the right match equals success

Tyler, a fourth grader, told his teacher that he didn’t like school and he didn’t like books.
The teacher counseled an Oasis tutor that Tyler didn’t have a father at home, and unfortunately an unstable mother.

Al, a San Diego Oasis tutor, was able to gain Tyler’s confidence when he discovered his interest in how mechanical things work – cars, planes, and electronic toys. Ironically, Al is a retired engineer who was able to share his knowledge of how mechanical things work to engage Tyler in conversation. They could speak the same “language.” Eventually, Tyler began to improve in reading, language, and math to achieve significant test score increases!

The principal of the school that Samantha and Tyler attend is convinced that inviting San Diego Oasis into the school for tutoring is a considerable factor in receiving a considerable 32% increase in Academic Performance Index results this year for overall performance. Moreover, most volunteers who participate in the program enjoy the one-to-one interaction and value it as a life-changing experience both for the students and the tutors.