ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A Central Florida tutoring business is seeing this summer's student enrollment far exceed pandemic-level demand.

Officials at The Tutoring Center say enrollment is three times higher than it was two summer sessions ago. The tutors themselves say they feel parents and pupils much prefer in-person help.

A recent study by Harvard University found evidence of a widening student achievement gap, in math particularly, linked to virtual learning amid the COVID pandemic. The data showed that high-poverty schools were especially affected.

“We find that remote instruction was a primary driver of widening achievement gaps," Harvard researchers at the Center for Education Policy Research wrote.

"Math gaps did not widen in areas that remained in-person," the report said, noting that there was some widening in reading gaps in those areas. 

The Tutoring Center’s Erika Neadle does not find the study's conclusions hard to believe — a tutor and University of Central Florida student, she says in-person learning does wonders.

“At least for me, I don’t work very well online," she said. "So, I can’t expect someone younger than me to be able to do that. Kids especially, they’re hands-on learners."

She works with students like rising third-grader Ophelia “Lia” Caldecott. The Tutoring Center’s summer enrollment is at 90 pupils; that’s up from 66 last year, and just 28 the year before.

“It’s crazy, but I like it. I like doing work,” Caldecott said, adding that there’s no place she’d rather be than at a desk doing worksheets. 

“Like, there for the whole day sitting doing the work, I wish I could do that every single day,” she said.

Caldecott did spend some time learning virtually from home during the height of the pandemic, but she said it wasn't something she enjoyed.

Her parents said they didn't think there was as much productive learning happening virtually as there would be in a traditional classroom setting.

As for learning loss, Caldecott didn’t experience a slip quite like the Harvard study may indicate, but Neadle said the tutoring she does helps her students improve anyway.

“The scores shoot up at least, in six months, kids could go up a grade level or two,” she said.

Caldecott has big plans for her future.

“I want to work at The Tutoring Center, I want to be a nurse, a librarian, a cheerleader,” she said, listing some of her dream careers. 

She hopes learning the way she does at a desk in person allows her to achieve whatever goals she sets.

Meanwhile, Orange County Public Schools officials tell News 13 that there’s no data set or study to prove in-person learning has been better for students than virtual learning was.

However, the district stated the summer enrichment programs there have also seen a boom. There was an enrollment of some 41,000 students, up from an average of 10,000 in years before.