The Students Are From Bridgewater, Now Classes Are There Too

They have so many clients in Bridgewater already that, for a local enrichment school, it just seemed like common sense to move some classes to town.

Now, the Eldridge Overton School of Excellence is preparing to offer a variety of new courses for after-school tutoring and enrichment at its Bridgewater offices on Route 22.

"We don't just have one school district we're working with," co-founder Tiffany Overton said of the benefit of adding Bridgewater to its list of locations that include Raritan Valley Community College and Kean University, as well as areas of Pennsylvania. "Different children learn differently, they're studying things in different ways from different schools, so they get to work here collectively as a group."

Overton and her founding partner, Natasha Eldridge, began the school as a way to supplement the work students are already doing in their own schools. They use personalized assessments and other methods to help students develop tools for continuing their educations.

For the past year, Overton said, the offices for the school have been in Bridgewater, but she and her partner only recently decided that it would be beneficial to hold classes there as well.

Many of the families taking courses at RVCC, Overton said, actually live in Bridgewater. Because of that, and the recent requests for additional classes, she and Eldridge decided it would be best to offer some courses in the municipality.

In the enrichment classes, assessments are done of students to determine strengths and weaknesses, and programs are offered to help improve the subjects in which they are having difficulty.

From there, Eldridge and Overton said, weekly reports are given to parents to keep them up-to-date on how their children are progressing.

"Parents are always looking for things for their children to do after school and on Saturdays," Overton said. "Our classes are fun, but educational."

Overton and Eldridge describe the new Bridgewater programs as "edu-tainment courses," because they are created to be about more than just academics.

"The classes are educational in nature, but designed to be fun, so children are being entertained and learning at the same time," Eldridge said.

The first of these new courses is Study Stars, which will be offered in both math and language arts.

This program will use materials from students' current school classes, and provide personal one-on-one tutoring in the specific subject areas. The courses in this category are organized into two age groups—ages eight through 10 and ages 11 through 13—and meet for four one-hour weekday evening sessions.

Also being offered in Bridgewater are Algebraic Concepts for grades six through eight, Debate Team for ages eight through 12 and Standardized Test Preparation for the NJ ASK exam for grades three through six.

Eldridge and Overton said they are starting the new courses in Bridgewater because of overwhelming feedback from parents of children in the summer camps wanting more programs during the school year, both on afternoons during the week and on Saturdays.

Overton, a former principal and teacher, and Eldridge, a former counselor, both agree on the importance of enrichment programs and on beginning them at as early an age as possible.

"[This is] a way for the children to get the best of both worlds," Overton said. "They have fun after school, while doing something constructive during that three- to six-hour window, which is critical, after school."

Information about prices and times for individual classes can be found on the school's website at eldridgeovertonschool.com.