HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Educating children is at the forefront of a new tutoring center in Huntsville. The center held a ribbon cutting Friday, welcoming the community to tour their facilities and sign up.

The Tutoring Center says they specialize in individual, one-on-one instruction to improve academic skills for kids form kindergarten through 12th grade.

The center is surrounded by nine schools within a five-mile radius. Educators say tutoring will play a vital role in helping children after their experience with changes in education post-pandemic.

“As a part of the COVID-19 fallout, we that our grandkids were falling behind in school and when they were tested, they were about two grade levels behind,” said Maurice Hardin, the director of The Tutoring Center. “So when we saw that we were a part of our want, not just to help our grandkids, but other kids in the community as well.”

Parents in the area say they want to see a change in their child.

“I want Amiriah to walk away feeling confident in math,” said Gerline Johnson, a local parent. “I wasn’t a strong math student, and so I really wanted her to get the edge that she needed and the confidence that she needed. So when she’s in the classroom, she feels like ‘I know what this is all about, I’m prepared, I’m ready.'”

Hardin says he believes his commitment and investment to help improve the lives of children and families in Huntsville comes from the heart.

“We had tutoring in college and so that’s when I began to love math and that’s when I began to see that I could do it,” Hardin explained. “I want to pass that on to the next generation to say ‘Hey, you may start slow but somebody will come along and help you learn to love and know that you can do the math and you can do reading and you can write.'”

The Huntsville center is the first in Madison County and only the second in Alabama. They say parents can help reinforce what the children are learning — both in school and here at the center by practicing at home.