San Diego Refugee Tutoring

San Diego Refugee Tutoring offers one-on-one tutoring, reading sessions, educational games, and enrichment activities such as field trips, bowling, and ice skating. The program also holds special events including a Thanksgiving Feast, holiday activities, and a Back to School Event, and it provides twice-weekly Zoom sessions during the pandemic. Families can also take part in parent training, parent council meetings, home visits, and parent workshops.

• Ages: 3–18 years old
• Schedule: Twice-weekly tutoring with 50+ sessions each school year
• Price: San Diego Refugee Tutoring is the only program of its kind to serve refugee children and their families for free.

San Diego Refugee Tutoring’s mission is to provide holistic academic support through one-on-one tutoring, enrichment activities, and mentorship to students of refugee background in the community of City Heights in Central San Diego. The program serves students from preschool through high school for more than 50 sessions each school year and assesses students annually to measure academic growth and identify gaps in their education. Each student receives specialized materials tailored to individual academic needs, and volunteers receive training to expand their tutoring experience. The program provides thousands of dollars in books each school year to build at-home libraries for participating families and often offers groceries, new shoes, hygiene products, or school supplies at events.

San Diego Refugee Tutoring began in 2009 as a grassroots afterschool program with ten refugee students and expanded to two classrooms in 2011. In 2016, the program grew to twice-weekly tutoring, incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 2017, and created a middle and high school program in 2018. In 2020, it began remote tutoring and awarded the first Jodi Maroney Memorial Scholarship, then returned to in-person tutoring in 2023 and hired former refugees in 2024. In 2025, the program invited 150 students, with an average of 77 students (maximum of 90) and over 70 volunteers attending each session.

Students in the program come from countries including Burma, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Haiti, the Central African Republic, Syria, and Afghanistan. Tutors come from across San Diego County and work one-on-one with refugee students. San Diego Refugee Tutoring partners with dentists and optometrists to support students and works to bridge gaps by providing support and education for families in their own language. Family Academic Liaisons meet with families in their homes, the program holds community advisory councils where parents are given a voice, and it organizes parent workshops with translation on meaningful topics.

The Jodi Maroney Memorial Scholarship Fund supports students’ future education at community colleges, trade schools, and four-year universities with awards ranging from $500 to $2,500 per year. To date, this scholarship fund has distributed over $40,000 in support to San Diego Refugee Tutoring students.

Last updated April 9, 2026.