Bethany Ryan, our founder, started tutoring when she was only 18 years old on a volunteer trip to Denver to work with refugees. Many of her students were older kids struggling to read English and, while she worked hard to teach them, she became increasingly frustrated with the lack of resources. Her kids grew bored with the toddler-like quality of the stories and she wished to have more hands-on activities to teach them. 

Throughout her life, she found herself in educational positions working with kids. She loved working with kids but was always disappointed in the education systems or lack thereof. She began tutoring kids on the side. At first, just one or two kids, but as more people came to her and more teachers reached out, she saw the lack of support in their education programs and at their schools. She saw the limited ability the teachers had to change things, no matter how much they wanted to help a child. She saw how rigid the instructions were for kids that needed a wide range of personalized learning. 

When she first began tutoring, she focused like any other tutor on grades and homework. Students that did better on homework and understood the material they learned in class would get better grades, thus learn better. As time went on, she saw this was not the case. Her first real tutoring client just didn’t seem to improve, no matter how much she went over the material or how much she aided with homework. 

That’s when Bethany realized something important, the concept that Cornerstone Knowledge is built on; many students are missing foundational knowledge and skills which are necessary for successful learning.

One of her first students was struggling with multiplication, fractions, and other math. When Bethany began peeling back the layers, she realized that this student hadn’t mastered the basics of adding and subtracting within 10! Of course she would struggle with the other things! Another student struggled with reading and writing but lacked basic phonics skills like knowing when an e was short or long. Yet another student struggled with algebra but had no real concept of what an equal sign meant or stood for. 

That is when Bethany decided to start Cornerstone Knowledge, a tutoring company based around rebuilding broken and missing knowledge foundations so students can actually learn successfully. Giving the students this essential cornerstone allows them to succeed not only in their schooling now, but for the rest of their lives. In fact, as Bethany frequently tells her clients, “I’m trying to work myself out of a job. I’ve done well if your student doesn’t need a tutor after me for the rest of their life.” 

Cornerstone Knowledge seeks to find the personalized learning that students desperately need and teach them how to utilize it. While schools are forced by laws and investors to stick to clear-cut curriculums, we aren’t restricted so we can identify your child’s best learning technique, use it to build up their learning, and then teach them to use it on any topic they cross for the rest of their lives. We also want to fill in the gaps in education that many schools have due to budget cuts and lack of funding. We believe well-taught children grow into intelligent adults who change the world. 

But we don’t stop there. 

Cornerstone Knowledge also acknowledges the importance of the parent. While schools have limited to no parent resources on aiding their children in schooling, we include activities that parents can do with their kids to build up learning. We also offer classes and individualized sessions so that parents can learn how to teach their kids themselves. Children may be our future, but parents now are the main ones shaping them and it’s our responsibility to do everything we can to aid parents and legal guardians.

Our story may have begun many years ago, but in many more ways, it is only beginning. We hope you will join us on our journey and help us support students. Even if you don’t have children of your own, you can help other students by joining our sponsorship program. 

Our story is Cornerstone Knowledge because successful learning starts with a strong foundation.