Learning Tools

New Platform Enables Educators to Earn Money for Tutoring

• By Richard Chang
• 10/03/16

Clark, a digital assistant that’s designed to make it easy for teachers to run and organize their own tutoring businesses, is available today in New York City and surrounding boroughs, with plans to expand to other states soon.

Clark provides instructors with the tools they need to tutor students, from scheduling their next session to making sure they get paid on time. Clark also contains a network of potential students and tutors to meet with one another according to their needs.

“In the shift toward technology in the education space, the dedicated administrative staff and brick and mortar costs really do lose a lot of their value,” said Samuel Gimbel, chief product officer and co-founder of Clark, in an interview. “We want to cut out the middleman, putting ourselves as the central entity. Clark facilitates communication for educators to do their best work. We want to empower educators to build sustainable businesses.”

Samuel Gimbel of Clark

Clark is currently accessible via text messaging (SMS) and e-mail, with a web-based signup system. The New York-based company is working on iOS and Android models, with plans to release those around Christmastime, Gimbel said. Clark aims to open in the Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago markets next month, he said.

There’s no cost to sign up or to communicate via Clark, but the company generally charges 10 percent per completed session. That’s significantly less than the 50 percent to 60 percent that traditional tutoring services take from their instructors.

Clark — named after Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent — is focused on K–12 tutors and students, with test preparation and ESL as additional audiences. For more information, visit the company’s website.