Del Ray Sylvan Center Helps Students Study Through The Pandemic

DEL RAY, VA — After months of studying at home, students in Alexandria Public Schools are returning to their classrooms in March for in-person hybrid learning. Many parents will be looking for outside resources to help get the their children back up to speed.

Some Del Ray parents have already taken advantage of the new Sylvan Learning Center that opened January at 2305 Mount Vernon Ave.

IreeduiBatsaikhan, a Mongolian native and former member of the U.S. Army, is the franchise owner. He close the location because the neighborhood felt like a small town.

"There wasn't any other program like ours in that particular neighborhood," he said. "A lot of people were very eager to find out what we were bringing to the neighborhood. When we were doing construction, so many parents were coming by the door to check it out. When they heard we were bringing education support services, parents were very fond of us."

Since opening its doors, Sylvan has been offering virtual and in-person tutoring for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

"The reason we were doing that was because we wanted our elementary school kids to be able to come into the center to do some hands-on learning, so they can actually interact with the teachers," Batsaikhan said. "Every kid around the world is struggling with virtual learning. We all are at some point. The struggle to survive at a computer 12-15 hours to try to learn something that you can't even get your hands on. Looking at PowerPoint after PowerPoint is very stressful."

During the pandemic, only two students are allowed per study table, which keeps them safely social distanced.

"They have enough space between each other to work and we have shields in place between the teachers and the students, so that they feel safe in their own environment," Batsaikhan said.

As the franchise owner of a new business, Batsaikhan spends a lot of time providing back up for his employees, which allows the franchise's director of education and center director to focus on the day-to-day activities.

"We're really new to the neighborhood, so we're trying to help a lot of people understand who we are, why we're here, and what our goal is," he said.

The Del Ray Sylvan Learning Center is the 18th center in Virginia. The company's mission is to provide personal learning for students from kindergarten to 12th grade.

"My vision is to try to help a lot of the young generation with education and be able to help them know that there are supports like our program to be able to help these kids get to the level they need to get to or maybe go beyond the level they want to."

Batsaikhan grew up in a country that didn't have these kinds of educational support programs, so he recognizes the value they can have.

"We invest a lot into our cars, our boats, our houses, but we really don't invest into our kids the most valuable thing we should be investing in, which is education," he said. "With education, our kids are going to be able to go farther in life. We're going to be able to shape the leaders in the near future."

Batsaikhan first became interested in serving in the military when he was living oversees. At that time, his father was working as a police officer.

"I just always fond of law enforcement and the military," he said. "When I came to the United States, I figured maybe I can give it a try. I enjoyed it. I was active duty for a little bit and now I'm in the reserves, working as a consultant for new soldiers, doing a lot of counseling work for new soldiers trying to help them on their career path."

After getting out of the Army, Batsaikhan spent a few years in Chicago, trying to open a Mathnasium franchise but the deal eventually fell through.

"I was looking for another franchise business to get interested in," he said. "I was particularly interested in education, in part, to see what I could do for a younger generation."

Batsaikhan discovered Sylvan, which he found to be a very attractive business with programs that have been around for a long time.

"That tells you something about the quality of the system that they had in place for all these years," he said.