Tutoring in Norfolk, Virginia
Kolu is software. Nobody from Kolu will drive to your house in Norfolk, 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.
Every Norfolk high school carries a specialty program that students from across the city can apply to. Granby has the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, Maury the Medical and Health Specialties Program, Norview the Leadership Center for the Sciences and Engineering, Lake Taylor the Academy of Leadership and Military Science, and Booker T. Washington the Academy of the Arts and S.T.E.M. Several middle schools have programs of their own. Applications to Norfolk Public Schools specialty programs typically open in December for the following year. Without one, a student attends the school zoned for the home address.
State tests Norfolk 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 Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton and Newport News as it does in Norfolk.
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 Norfolk, ask the school first. Teachers know who tutors, and a counselor at Norfolk Public Schools can tell you what the district already offers at no cost. After that, try students at Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University or Tidewater 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.