Tutoring in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Grand Rapids, 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.
Grand Rapids Public Schools assigns each address a neighborhood school, and the district posts an Attendance Area Finder to look it up. Theme schools are the other route. They take a separate application, and a student who is accepted still has to complete regular registration. Some addresses are assigned to a theme school by default, and those families can pick a nearby neighborhood school, which the district calls a Buddy School, with transportation provided. Enrollment for every school runs through the same online ParentVue system.
State tests Grand Rapids students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | M-STEP | M-STEP | M-STEP | M-STEP | M-STEP | PSAT 8/9 | PSAT 8/9 | PSAT 10 | SAT | Not tested |
| Math | M-STEP | M-STEP | M-STEP | M-STEP | M-STEP | PSAT 8/9 | PSAT 8/9 | PSAT 10 | SAT | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | M-STEP | Not tested | Not tested | M-STEP | Not tested | Not tested | M-STEP | Not tested |
- M-STEP (Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 7
- M-STEP: science, grades 5, 8 and 11
- PSAT 8/9: reading and writing, math, grades 8 and 9
- PSAT 10: reading and writing, math, grade 10
- SAT: reading and writing, math, grade 11
The state SAT changed for 2026-27. The essay is gone, and schools are no longer required to print the score on the high school transcript, so advice from families who tested before 2027 is out of date on both points.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Michigan 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 M-STEP. 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 Wyoming, Kentwood, East Grand Rapids, Walker, Grandville and Ada as it does in Grand Rapids.
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 Grand Rapids, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Grand Rapids Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Grand Valley State University, Calvin University, Aquinas College or Grand Rapids 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.