Basement to Big Leagues: The Story of Khan’s Tutorial
By Ava Saunders and Chelsea Cresswell
A family-run tutoring company provides academic help for hundreds of low-income students.
JACKSON HEIGHTS — Nestled between two sari shops on 74th street lies Khan’s Tutorial, an academic center catering to students who do not have the advantages of private schools and tutors. Tanjila Rashid, a 25-year-old student at New York University, has taught at the school for 10 years and knows the ins and outs. “We try to target low-income families because they don’t get the benefit of more money,” Ms. Rashid said in an interview on Tuesday morning.
Ms. Rashid loves the sense of community at Khan’s Tutorial. “Everyone keep coming back,” she said. “It feels like family after a while.” Her sister was a student at the center and Ms. Rashid accompanied her to lessons. When Ms. Rashid was 15, she landed a job at the center as an intern and eventually as a full-time instructor. After talking to her for only a few minutes, it was clear how much she loved working with the children. “It’s mind-blowing how even a little bit of help and push for the students can get them to another level,” she said.
Kahn’s Tutorial was founded in 1994 when Dr. Monsur Khan, a former New York public school principal, wanted to get his son Ivan Khan into the Bronx High School of Science, a specialized school. He tutored his son in their basement and neighbors began requesting that he tutor their children as well. Before long, Khan’s Tutorial was born.
Dr. Khan, who died in 2014, believed in providing opportunities to those who normally wouldn’t have access to them. Today his son Ivan is in charge of the business and expanded on his father’s original vision.
In the short time he has been CEO, Mr. Khan has introduced multiple scholarship programs for students to attend SAT and SHSAT prep classes at Khan’s Tutorial. In addition, the center offers private scholarships for students to attend specialized high schools in New York. He also implemented the “Dr. Monsur Khan Opportunity Scholarship” in memory of his father, which has helped 54 black and Latino students to attend specialized high schools in the past three years.
Twenty-five years later, the company has grown to more than 1,000 students and 350 faculty members at their 11 locations around Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Their original location in Jackson Heights remains their largest with around 500 students of various ethnicities. “We have more Asians, Nepalis and Hispanics,” Ms. Rashid explained, “but it’s different in our other locations.”
Last year, 350 students from Khan’s Tutorial got into their choices of specialized high schools. Students of the center also got into elite universities, including Harvard, Cornell, Yale and Johns Hopkins University — where one student received a full scholarship. The most popular destination for Khan’s Tutorial students is New York University.
The methods of Khan’s Tutorial have proven exceptionally effective, and they are due in part to the dedication of the instructors. “Everyone is here for the same purpose,” Ms. Rashid said, “to help the students grow.”
