The Girls Who Logged In Early: How One Queens Village Family Found Momentum Through City Tutors

On weeknights in Queens Village, a quiet ritual unfolds in the home of Dominique E. Two girls from next door, Veronica, 9, and Arianna, 12, arrive with backpacks, pull out a laptop, and log into a Zoom tutoring session before their neighbors have finished dinner.

They arrive early on purpose. Being early ensures something their family did not always have: a guaranteed tutor.

The routine began just a few months ago, after a chance recommendation from their church led the family to The City Tutors, a free tutoring and mentorship program born at City College and now serving New Yorkers across the city. For the girls’ father, Mr. Norris, a single working dad, navigating family alone, and struggling to help his daughters read at grade level, it felt like finding a subway line he did not know existed.

“In the community, you don’t always know where to look for help,” he said. “Tutoring was expensive. I’d spent hundreds, thousands. And still, they were reading far below level.”

Finding a lifeline in a church email

The turning point came through New Jerusalem Worship Center, where the girls spend Sundays with Dominique and her grandmother. When Dominique’s grandmother realized the girls were far behind in reading and math, she contacted a fellow congregant, Sister Barbara Daye, who forwarded a City Tutors link.

Dominique, who had just passed the bar exam and was in the transition between law school and her legal career, stepped in.

“City Tutors has drop-in tutoring starting at 6 p.m.,” she said. “So I logged in at 5:30. I wasn’t playing around.”

That early login introduced her to Michael Chin, City Tutors’ chief program success officer, who would soon become a central figure in the family’s story.

“Michael remembered their names, their needs, everything,” she said. “He made the girls feel seen.”

Five days a week, from a kitchen table in Queens Village

The platform intimidated Dominique at first. But one afternoon, Chin shared his screen and walked her through how to use the scheduling system. After that, everything changed.

“Once I understood it, the girls had tutors five days a week,” she said.

They worked with Sarah on Mondays, Jadan on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Alyson on Thursdays, and Crystal on Fridays. All volunteers, graduate students, college students, professionals.

“I didn’t hear ‘I can’t do this’ anymore,” Mr. Norris said. “City Tutors erased that.”

From below level to the honor wall

The results appeared quickly.

On their Report Cards this fall:

Arianna, 12, now has a 90 in ELA, 80 in Math, and an 85 in Science.

Veronica, 9, scored an 89 in ELA, 87 in Math, and 80 in Writing.

And then came the moment Veronica sprinted into Dominique’s kitchen waving her spelling test.

“Miss Dominique! My test is on the wall!”

Her teacher had displayed it as an example for the class, a first.

For a girl who once whispered, “I’m not smart enough,” it was proof that a different future was possible.

A village and a nonprofit at work

For outsiders, the story is about academics. For the family, it is about something deeper: stability.

Mr. Norris works long hours. The girls’ mother is no longer consistently present. Dominique, raised by her grandmother since age four, recognized the ache behind their struggles.

“I know what it feels like to be that age and not have your mom around,” she said. “I wanted to be the steady person I needed back then.”

City Tutors filled the academic side, the family filled the emotional side. Together, they became something larger than either could do alone.

The platform that makes space

The City Tutors model, free, flexible, virtual, and volunteer powered, is built for families like this: overworked parents, irregular schedules, kids who need something consistent.

“It’s like the subway,” said Kevin Brown, City Tutors’ program success manager. “Wherever you start, we’ll get you to the next stop.”

For Veronica and Arianna, the next stop is clear:

Veronica wants to be a judge.

Arianna wants to be an OB-GYN.

Dominique laughs when she talks about it.

“I tell them, ‘Miss Dominique went to law school. It was extremely hard. But with God on your side, you can do it. You have people helping you now.’”

“Ask for help. You’ll get help.”

When asked what he wants other fathers to know, Mr. Norris looks straight ahead.

“Don’t be intimidated,” he said. “A lot of fathers are in my position, working, tired, not sure how to help. But you just have to ask. If you ask for help, you’ll get help. City Tutors changed everything for us.”

In the end, the story is not just about grades.

It is about a village, a church, a neighbor, a grandmother, a father, and a citywide tutoring subway that lets families like theirs finally exhale.

“City Tutors did a world of good,” Mr. Norris said. “More than I expected. More than I imagined.”