Tutoring in Chesapeake, Virginia
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Chesapeake, 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.
Chesapeake Public Schools serves the whole city, from Western Branch and Deep Creek to Great Bridge and Hickory, and a home address sets the elementary, middle and high school. Virginia cities are separate from counties, so the neighboring divisions in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth and Suffolk keep their own calendars and testing dates. A few high school programs take applications from across the city, including the International Baccalaureate program at Oscar F. Smith High School and the Science and Medicine Academy at Deep Creek High School.
State tests Chesapeake students take
| Grade | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and writing | SOL | SOL | SOL | SOL | SOL | SOL | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Math | SOL | SOL | SOL | SOL | SOL | SOL | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Science | Not tested | Not tested | SOL Science | Not tested | Not tested | SOL Science | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
- SOL (Standards of Learning): reading and writing, math, grades 3 through 8
- SOL Science: science, grades 5 and 8
Starting in 2026-27, state law puts SOL tests for grades 7 to 12 in the last two full instructional weeks of the semester or year, which leaves little time for a retake before school ends. The scores needed to pass the reading and math SOLs are also rising in steps over four years.
Testing dates and graduation rules for the whole state are on a separate page. Virginia 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 SOL. 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 Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth and Suffolk as it does in Chesapeake.
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 Chesapeake, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Chesapeake Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Tidewater Community College, Old Dominion University or Norfolk State University, 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.