UPD Tutors Help Fill the Learning Gap for Elementary Kids

Ten UPD officers are now tutoring students at Greer Elementary School

Like municipal police departments, the University Police Department requires certifications and trainings for its officers. Different from them, however, UPD takes an educational approach to policing whenever they can. This approach supports their goals at UVA of offering education to the public while policing, and supports UPD's current partnership with the Life Enrichment Center.

The Life Enrichment Center (LEC) is a non-profit tutoring program for Title 1 elementary schools founded in 2003 by Kevin Turpin, with a commitment to ensure elementary school children can read proficiently by the end of the third grade. "Most LEC students come from impoverished neighborhoods and attend Title 1 schools," noted Turpin. "Students who are reading at or above their grade level by the end of the third grade are four times more likely to graduate from high school and stay out of trouble with law enforcement." The program has expanded across the Commonwealth, with over 2,000 tutors volunteering over the years, including over 100 law enforcement officers.

Turpin hired a director of student assessments at LEC to chronicle pre- and post-tutoring program reading levels by students participating in the program. For the Fall 2022 cohort of second-grade LEC participants at Greer Elementary, none of the students were reading at a second-grade level in the Fall; 44% had achieved second-grade reading level by Spring 2023 and significant gains were made in all areas tested in reading proficiency:

Opening Minds and Hearts

Deputy Chief Hall's student this past semester was Lyam. "He was standoffish and shy at first, but he loved my patches and my badges," Hall said. "He’s a ball of energy that needs focus. At one point it clicks, and he comes over and asks, 'You’re here just for me?' And he gives me the tightest hug. You can’t explain how that makes you feel, it shows you the impact you can make on a community. It’s invaluable for us, not just the students."

Hall's sentiments and the value it provided for him personally were echoed by all the UPD tutors. "My experience was nothing short of amazing," reported Dani Lawson, UPD community engagement specialist. "It was a two-way street in terms of learning. I learned where my student Sophia came from, whose first language is Spanish, and shared some of my personal experience. A lot of the officers and I had fun doing something outside of the traditional punitive measures that come with law enforcement."

Sgt. Mike Henry, Forensics Evidence and Fleet Maintenance, noted that when he first got there, his student Elijah, 'a firecracker' as he described, thought someone was in trouble. "Once they get to know you and see you smile, they realize it’s not a faceless police officer out to get someone, it’s someone here to help," he went on to say. "The UPD has gone out of its way to become involved with the community, and this is a great opportunity to help students who are developing, and grow a relationship with the community, so we’re no longer faceless badges."

Lt. Dan Stuart, responsible for the Community Oriented Policing Squad (COPS), said, "This is an experience that I wouldn’t trade; it was a great experience to have, very rewarding.” When his student learned he was there just for her, "she thought that was very cool that someone was dedicating their time to her, to help her learn and grow.  She grew in her reading and comprehension, doing much better towards the end."

"It was more about the relationship I built with her," stated Brandi Pannell, Police Services Operator, of her student Allison, who she characterized as "quite a little spitfire." "Obviously, we read and we worked on the workbook. Every time I walked her back to her classroom, she wouldn’t leave without a hug. She used to share her fruit snacks with me, which means a lot when you’re a little kid! It was really worth it to have that relationship with a child, which will hopefully make a difference someday."

In his first year of tutoring, Capt. Cody Oliver, Operations, had a student who one week was unable to participate in the tutoring with him because of a previous incident that day. Capt. Oliver was asked to speak with the student and reported, "We spent 45 minutes talking about what had happened during the day, talking about big problems and little problems, and the feelings that arise in the course of everyday life, and that’s what made the lightbulb go off for me. It made me understand what a profound impact we’re having in these young people’s lives, just by showing up every day in uniform."

Patrol Officer Wallace Goode (just promoted to Sergeant - congratulations, Sgt. Goode!) loves the tutoring program. "My student Cooper -- I nicknamed him 'Super Cooper' -- taught me about video games. Often, kids only see police when we’re interacting with Mom or Dad’s issues, but now they see us in a different way, being proactive, and they get to know us beyond the uniform. We’re people too and like to have fun."

Growing the Program

"This program would not be possible without the support of the Albemarle County Public School District leadership," noted Deputy Chief Hall. "Superintendent Dr. Matthew Haas was instrumental in clearing the pathway for the program. Additionally, Greer Elementary School Principal Dr. Steve Saunders was extremely welcoming to tutors and a tremendous help with getting the program established.”

Dr. Saunders said about the UPD tutoring program: “The UVA Police Department has been an outstanding partner for our students, school, and community. We are incredibly grateful for their dedication to supporting our students, and their desire to provide tutoring and mentoring to our students. They are, simply, outstanding in being both good and great.”

Hall went on to say, "It should also be noted that without the support of Chief Longo, this program would not be able to happen within the department. I am thankful to have a courageous leader that is willing to support community outreach efforts.”

Sue Dootson, LEC Coordinator for Albemarle County and Charlottesville, matches the tutors to the schools and sets up group text messages to make sure the tutors know when and where to go. "Some have never tutored; some don’t have children," Dootson remarked. "I help put them at ease, provide training and materials and encouragement. I hear everyone say, 'This was the best experience I ever had.' Many students are second-language learners. Helping them assimilate and make that one-on-one connection is wonderful to experience."

Lt. Stuart observed, "The help is greatly appreciated by teachers, whose hands are sometimes tied in terms of what they can offer in the time allowed for each student.” When thinking about the future of the program, Capt. Oliver said its longevity and growth depends on the tutors. He'd love to expand to other schools and look at community partnerships to get others involved.

LEC Founder and President Kevin Turpin put it succinctly: "We look forward to partnering further with UVA, whether it’s the School of Education, the UVA Volunteer Center, or UVA employees." Pointing out that tutoring can be done over a lunch break or before or after work, he added, "Seeing that lightbulb go off in a child’s head when they get it, that excitement for learning and reading – you can play a role in making that happen."

"When you’re going about your day-to-day responsibilities as a police officer, you don’t understand the positive impact you have on people," reflected Deputy Chief Hall. "We see the negative side day in and day out. A child will tell you the truth, will relate to you, and there’s no explanation for how that makes you feel. You just have to see for yourself."

The program has resulted in educational improvement across the board at Greer Elementary, but also at elementary schools across the Commonwealth. With that success comes the desire for expansion.

Chief Longo concluded, "This is an opportunity to grow this program, which has been wildly successful in helping to improve the scores of students in this particular elementary school, but it's also been successful in building relationships that we strive to build every day in our community with respect to our police department and our young people."

"I don’t want the message to get lost in the success of the test scores," Longo went on to say. "We built relationships here. We struggled for a lot of years in this business to build relationships, often due to circumstances outside of the control of these police officers. And we’ve built good relationships, and we’ve built relationships with people who are still learning in life and who are thinking about what life looks like in front of them. To know that police officers are people who have hearts, who are willing to give, and who want to have relationships like this, I think this will go a long way, not just for the young people whose lives we’ve touched, but also for the police officers whose hearts have been touched. And that’s really exciting to me, and I think a big part of the story is that."