By Staff Reports
APPLE VALLEY, Calif. — The Apple Valley Unified School District (AVUSD) has received the prestigious RIMS AVID Impact Award from the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools for its innovative District-Wide Peer Tutoring program. The recognition was presented during a ceremony held on Oct. 29 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Ontario, Calif.
The program recruits and trains high school juniors and seniors as AVID tutors for younger peers, including high school freshmen and sophomores as well as seventh and eighth graders. After completing specialized training, these students serve as tutors, earning community service credit or payment through categorical funds for work performed outside regular school hours.
“This effort of peer tutoring has created a system of support for our AVID programs across the district and given valuable skills and experience to our AVID juniors and seniors, useful in college and beyond,” said Patrick Schlosser, AVUSD Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services.
The program addresses a challenge unique to the district, which is located far from universities and has limited access to college-age tutors. In its second year, the initiative has already seen substantial success, with 91 students participating in the first training session of the 2023–2024 school year.
“Students who are part of the peer tutoring training program have expressed their enthusiasm for this initiative, not only for the training itself but also for the sense of belonging to a larger AVID family,” said Mariana Torres, AVUSD Director of Equity and Access.
The program has been lauded for both its impact on AVID students’ academic success and the leadership skills it fosters in the high school tutors.
