Filling the Gap was founded by Gertie Zwick-Schachter, a recent graduate from LaGuardia High School in New York City. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, she made the decision to take a gap year. However, she found herself struggling with the question of how to meaningfully fill her time during this unprecedented and unpredictable year.

Having experienced the difficult transition from in-person to remote learning in the second semester of her senior year, Gertie knew the challenges that this upcoming academic year would bring for K-12 students. She thought of an idea that would help two groups of students facing different educational crises: an organization that would employ previously college-bound students to aid younger students in their remote learning.

And with that idea, Filling the Gap was born. She formed a team of other recent LaGuardia alumni and gap year students from around New York City - all dedicated to serving families and students of all ages and educational needs in the coming school year. This network of over 200 tutors is unique in breadth and diversity of interest, experience, and talent. Beyond that, Filling the Gap is a tutoring organization like no other because it was born from the desire of our founder, management team, and each of our hand-picked tutors to support New York City students and families in this difficult time.

Together, with creativity, resilience, and teamwork, we can start Filling the Gap between pre-pandemic education, and the new normal!