Millennial Revamping Education From Childhood Roots

by Jean Donohue
Millennial entrepreneur Marvin Dutton worked as a teacher for eight years before he quit to capitalize on a new venture in education. That venture is rooted in implementation; Dutton believes that early-childhood education could be implemented in a way that is more beneficial to the individual student and seeks to reform the educational landscape in Philadelphia with Marvin’s Education Services.

CEO of Marvin’s Education Services Marvin Dutton wants to change educational landscape in Phila.

“Eighty-five percent of the brain develops before age five,” he said.
From research and firsthand experience in educating, Dutton knows the invaluable importance of early-childhood education.
“If you fall behind at a young age, you spend your life catching up,” he says.
Although he is not immersed in a traditional classroom setting, Dutton is above all, a teacher.
As the CEO of Marvin’s Education Services, he provides free early childhood education programs as well as low-cost tutoring. Throughout his career as a kindergarten teacher, he noted many faults within the traditional classroom setting, especially for students with disabilities and behavioral challenges.
What sets Marvin’s Education Services apart from other early-childhood programs is his unique curriculum that focuses on educational strategies. Most children learn their times tables by drilling them into memory, but Marvin takes a different approach. For a problem like nine times five, he’d reason with a student that the product is the number 5 nine times and that way students who are visual learners could use their fingers or tally marks to solve.
Marvin is driven by his own humble beginnings in Philadelphia’s Frankford community. At Frankford HS, he was a member of the National Honor Society and graduated in the top 10% of his class. He immediately entered into Albright College where he studied sociology for two years before moving on to Penn State Abington, where he received a BA in psychological and social sciences. He then received his Master’s degree in education with a concentration in elementary education from Lincoln University.
After being a teacher for eight years, Marvin realized, “I can do more.” And from that comes his company’s motto, “You deserve the best.”
On Oct. 3, Marvin’s Education Services will launch its “School Readiness” class on Saturdays, a free early-childhood education program for students ages three to six held at Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School in Kensington. Marvin’s venture receives fiscal backing from local nonprofit organizations and grants. He is a recent recipient of the BMe Leader Award (Black Male Engagement) worth $10,000 that is awarded annual to 10 outstanding African American men providing service in their respective communities.
Though he will continue to offer his mobile tutoring service, Marvin Dutton is focused on expanding his early childhood education programs to any and all points of interest.
“I want to be the voice of education in Philadelphia,” he said.

Please email Marvin at mdutton@marvinseducationservices.com for more information.

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