Feb / March 2026

Hello everyone! My sincerest apologies for the hiatus - my son, Caleb, was born at the end of January! Mother and son are well and recovering, and we're all navigating the wonderful new chapter of our lives together. My understanding of children and their families has grown! I hope everyone survived the inclement weather, as we all look to the warmer days preceding Spring Break (and the school year is nearly done after that!) Also, LINKZ turns seven on March 14th - thank you all for seven wonderful, meaningful, and fun years!

- Important: There's very big news on the horizon... we will soon have our own LINKZ app, letting us (finally) leave TutorCruncher behind! It will be slowly rolling out in the coming months, but stay tuned :) We will likely have a technology / app Learning @ LINKZ after the summer to celebrate!

- If you need to find out our client's information, click on My Jobs --> then click on the job in question --> then click on the name of the student.

- Please make sure you're physically handing off your students to your parents, and make sure parents are physically handing their students off to you (meaning, tell your parents not to leave until you've got their student!)

- Michelle will be doing some spring cleaning in the not-too-distant future. If there’s anything in any of the closets that’s yours and you want kept there, please mark it.

- Please remember to put things back on shelves, and keep in mind that many students (and tutors) are using the spaces available to all.

- I'll be leaving a permanent link to the LINKZ Handbook in this section, in case you need any reminders on policies, rules, regulations, etc. If you need a reminder of your login information, please email Michelle. Here's the link!

- I'll also be leaving some permanent reminders here, as they're always important:

- Don’t start with a client until you have signed contract - if you didn’t receive a copy of the contract to sign, it means the client has not signed it yet!

- Please remember that, as private contractors, your role is to service the contract we provide to clients - this means following the action plan / to-do list set by your case manager! If you are going to make a change, have a concern, etc. you need to let your case manager know BEFORE letting a parent know. Case managers are here to help, guide, and support - if you're seeing something that a case manager should be aware of, please tell them so that they can advise. We never want to be caught off guard and hear about changes from parents!

- Please remember that, when you receive a new client, you need to make contact with that client within 24 hours. It's important to make that initial contact right away, so if you're unable to, please let your case manager know.

- Put any in-office hours into TutorCruncher at least a week in advance!

- Our offices are open 24/7/365!

- If you’re making any semi-permanent or permanent changes with a client (changing times, subjects, etc.) you must let your case manager know first!

- If you have questions about something, check the manual and/or email me, Michelle, Elisa, Jenn, or Carolyn!

- Important: While it's not directly about workshops, I think this is the space to introduce our new Social Media Manager, Renée Mulcare! Renée will be reaching out to some of you to ask for videos, photos, testimonials, and anything else you might want to have on our newly blossoming social media spaces. If you have things you'd like to share, please let me know and I'll connect you directly with Renée!

- I received fantastic feedback about both Shayne and Jenn's Learning @ LINKZ workshops - if you aren't attending them, you really should!

- A lot of trainings coming up! Here's the schedule (and this is all on the Tutor Portal as well):

- Saturday, March 14th @ 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM: Learning @ LINKZ: Paragraphology Workshop - Nora Fitzgerald will be providing a walkthrough of skills and strategies for Paragraphology! This workshop will be held at the LINKZ Columbia office.

- Monday, April 13th @ 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM: Learning @ LINKZ: Intro to ASD - Carli Legambi, an expert on ASD, will be joining us virtually (link to follow soon) to walk us through the meaningful ways we can help students struggling with ASD.

- Thursday, May 7th @ 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM: Learning @ LINKZ: A New Math Program (not the official title, but the gist) - We'll be joined at our LINKZ Columbia office by Shari Perry & Shelia Berlinger, who are introducing a new visual and manipulative-based math program. This program is designed to supplement Common Core and could be a valuable tool for those who are less confident in teaching math.