Blackburn Mentoring serves Hartford, New Haven and central Connecticut by video. Our team is based in Los Angeles; clients in West Hartford, Glastonbury, Avon, Farmington and Simsbury, and in Hamden, Woodbridge, Guilford, Madison and the shoreline towns, meet one dedicated mentor online every week in Eastern time. We work with high school students and their parents, college students, young adults and professionals.
Two cities, one corridor
Hartford and New Haven are about forty minutes apart on I-91, and the region between them is a mix of small cities, old mill towns and leafy suburbs. Hartford has long been an insurance and financial services center, and the area is home to aerospace and defense manufacturing. New Haven leans on health care, research and biotechnology. Many residents also commute toward New York on the Metro-North New Haven Line, or toward Boston.
The result is a lot of households with demanding jobs and children in demanding schools, from well-regarded public districts in the Farmington Valley and along the shoreline to the many independent and boarding schools Connecticut is known for.
Boarding and day school students
Some Connecticut students live at a boarding school, where the day is tightly scheduled and a parent is not down the hall. A video mentor can meet a boarding student in an evening study block or on a weekend, keep a weekly plan going and, with permission, update parents who may be a few hours away. Day school and public school students often need the opposite: help building structure into a long, loosely organized evening at home.
What a typical first month looks like
- The intro call, with a parent included for any high school student, to agree what success would look like.
- Two or three early sessions mostly spent understanding the real week: classes, activities, sleep, phone habits.
- A short, specific plan for the next seven days, written by the student with the mentor.
- Midweek check-ins by text, and adjustments at the next session based on what actually happened.
By the end of a month, most students and families can tell whether the fit is right and what to focus on next.
College students and recent graduates
Connecticut has a dense cluster of colleges and universities, from large public campuses to small liberal arts colleges, and plenty of students from out of state study here while plenty of Connecticut students leave. We work with students on either side of that, by video, wherever they are enrolled. For young professionals in insurance, health care or engineering, the questions are often about a first promotion, a move to New York or Boston, or whether graduate school is worth it. Our page for professionals covers that work.
New England seasons
Connecticut has full New England weather: humid summers, a famous fall, and winters with nor’easters that can close schools for a day or two. Late winter is a common slump for students, when daylight is short and the semester feels long. A weekly session and a mentor who notices the pattern can make February a lot easier.
Session timing
Connecticut is three hours ahead of Los Angeles. After-school and evening sessions are easy to place, and weekend mornings work for boarding students. Every session is scheduled in your local time.
Where a mentor helps
A mentor is a steady guide outside the family, not a tutor, therapist or admissions counselor. Families with teenagers usually begin with mentoring for high school students; college students fit mentoring for college students. More on how video sessions run is on our online mentoring page.
Related
- Online mentoring in Greenwich and Fairfield County
- Online mentoring in Boston
- The senior year slump
- Mentoring for families
Common questions
Can a mentor work with a student at a Connecticut boarding school?
Yes. Sessions are online and can be set during evening study time or on weekends, with parents updated with permission.
Do you meet clients in person in Connecticut?
No. Our team is in Los Angeles, and Connecticut clients work with us by video with text and phone contact between sessions.
Is this the same as college counseling?
No. Mentors help with goals, habits and follow-through. They are not admissions counselors and can coordinate with one a family already uses.
Get started
Would it help to talk about a student or young adult in Connecticut? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.