What makes ECTC stand out in the crowd?

This article was originally published by ShoutoutAtlanta.com on January 12, 2022.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Allison Barchichat, owner & director of East Cobb Tutoring Center, and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Allison, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
In 2010, I had three babies (really) and a teaching career in Cobb County. With the kids in daycare, I would have been cash-negative. Anticipating a return to teaching high school math, I started tutoring in my house to keep up with the material and maintain relationships with my colleagues. It didn’t take long for word to spread, and I quickly ran out of time in my day to tutor students. Telling a parent that I couldn’t help was the worst feeling. I was taking calls from parents stressed beyond capacity because they were feeling the academic stress of their kids. It was time to get some help.

The first person I hired, Doyin Ayoola, is still with East Cobb Tutoring Center. It was important to me to find another teacher to help with tutoring and Doyin added experience teaching elementary school in Cobb. Before long, we both had full schedules and we grew organically from word of mouth referrals from our raving fans.

With each new classroom teacher added to the staff, I was able to increase our course offerings as well as our availability. Today, we tutor just about any content area for kids as young as kindergarten and as old as college. I have maintained my standard of only hiring teachers and we have been able to help thousands of families reduce their academic stress.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
East Cobb Tutoring Center is not like other “shopping center” tutoring places. When you walk in, you will not see students sitting around a big table trying to get the attention of one or two tutors. We utilize mini-classrooms to eliminate distractions, and as teachers we understand the unique learning needs of our students. We get to work at the very first appointment and use the materials students come in with (we also have a ton of teacher resources for students that come in empty handed). We will not waste your time (or money) with diagnostic testing – the kids do plenty of that at school. Instead, our data comes from what students have already produced – work samples, progress reports, and anecdotes from parents and teachers. The work we do is specifically tailored to each student – we don’t use a cookie cutter curriculum for any age level. We offer weekly private tutoring with the same teacher every time or appointments as-needed, either way there is no contract. Finally, our tutors are teachers! It takes more than just being “really good at math” to be an effective educator. The tutors at East Cobb Tutoring Center are highly specialized and experts in their teaching fields.

The pandemic changed the way we do business, in a good way. We are now able to offer tutoring online as an option for regular tutoring or as a back-up plan for our in person clients.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
With any free time, I head straight to the mountains. Blue Ridge is my favorite town in Georgia. I love the laid back pace, the breweries and the world-class fishing! I always go looking for a beer flight, not hard to find in Blue Ridge. For lunch I’m always on the lookout for fried green tomatoes or a grilled pimento cheese sandwich, either at the cafe at Mercier Orchards or Southern Charm in downtown Blue Ridge. I’ve tried lots of fishing spots in the area, but my favorite thing to do is just pull over to the side of the road and fish in one of the many creeks along my route.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Russ Hall is my business coach. He guided me through the pandemic and pushes me in all the right ways to grow the business and expand our reach.