Tutoring in Portland, Maine
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Portland, and we have no office there. If you want a person, this page says how we would look for one. If the question is which skill is missing, we can help with that part.
An eighth grader in Portland Public Schools does not get a high school by address. Each winter students rank the three high schools, Casco Bay, Deering and Portland High, on a preference form. The district then assigns seats under its Educational Options Policy, using a lottery to keep enrollment balanced between the schools, and Casco Bay has a lottery of its own. The process is built to give as many students as possible their first preference, but a first choice is not guaranteed. Elementary and middle schools are assigned by where a family lives.
State tests Portland students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | Maine Through Year Assessment | Maine Through Year Assessment | Maine Through Year Assessment | Maine Through Year Assessment | Maine Through Year Assessment | Maine Through Year Assessment | Not tested | Maine Through Year Assessment | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | Maine Through Year Assessment | Maine Through Year Assessment | Maine Through Year Assessment | Maine Through Year Assessment | Maine Through Year Assessment | Maine Through Year Assessment | Not tested | Maine Through Year Assessment | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | Maine Science Assessment | Not tested | Not tested | Maine Science Assessment | Not tested | Not tested | Maine Science Assessment | Not tested |
- Maine Through Year Assessment: reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8 and 10
- Maine Science Assessment: science, grades 5, 8 and 11
The fall round counts. It is a required state test, it opens two weeks into September, and in 2026 it runs from September 14 into late October.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Maine guide
Kolu finds the missing skill and goes back to it
It starts with a skill check, a short test that gets harder or easier depending on the last answer. The result is a map of the subject broken into skills with their prerequisites drawn in, each one marked as solid, still being learned, or a gap.
After that, each session is a handful of activities picked for that student, usually something due for review, a gap to repair and one new skill. When an answer is wrong, Kolu looks at which earlier skill the mistake points to and goes back to it. Here is what that looks like for a sixth grader who can't divide fractions.
The problem on the page
3/4 ÷ 2/5
Dividing fractions
Grade 6
Multiplying fractions
Grade 5 · rests on the one below
Equivalent fractions
Grade 4 · usually where it started
Multiplication facts
Grade 3
Kolu does not call a skill mastered after one right answer. That takes correct work on different kinds of problems on different days, and a skill that fades gets brought back.
Kolu is not test prep for the Maine Through Year Assessment. It has no bank of released questions. It teaches the skills the test draws on, and it will not do tonight's homework.
It runs in a browser, so it works the same in South Portland, Westbrook, Falmouth, Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough as it does in Portland.
When to hire a person instead
Some students need a person, and software is the wrong purchase for them. That includes a child who shuts down when the work gets hard, a student with a learning disability who needs someone trained in it, and anyone with an exam in ten days.
In Portland, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Portland Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at University of Southern Maine, University of New England, Maine College of Art & Design or Southern Maine Community College, who took these courses recently and usually charge less than an agency.
Whoever you hire, ask one question before the first session: how will you find out what my child doesn't know? If the answer is that they will go over the homework, keep looking.
Free for one subject, $15 a month for 5
Kolu is free for one subject at a time, with one full skill check every 30 days and up to 4 sessions a day. Plus is $15 a month, or $120 for a year, and covers 5 subjects at once with unlimited skill checks. A learner under 13 needs a parent or guardian to set up the account.