Other Classes

Elsewhere in the nation, the chief mission of the Literacy Volunteers of America is to teach reading and writing, though on the East End, according to Donna Frey, the group's Suffolk coordinator, there is little or no call for it.

In part, said Ms. Frey, that is because people who cannot read find it harder to seek help than people who cannot speak English: "There's no stigma there."

Literacy Volunteers tutors receive a 24-hour training course.

The Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services offers classes from September to May via the East Hampton School District's adult education program, for beginning to intermediate students. The teachers are paid and have bachelor's degrees. Most are certified to teach English as a second language.

The Literacy Volunteers and BOCES programs are free.

Southampton College's three-tiered course is the largest and fastest-growing facet of its continuing education program, said Laura Lyons, the program's director. The college offers a 40-hour course that costs $185 a semester, an intensive class that costs $1,235 for 300 hours, and a $250 study group for those hoping to pass the college aptitude test.

Literacy Volunteers and BOCES encourage more advanced students to attend college. Many go to Suffolk Community College in Riverhead.

The BOCES program in Brentwood gives a popular course for students aiming for their high school equivalency diplomas, although there is no great demand for it yet in East Hampton, said Judy Kahn, the director.

In East Hampton, the need is to find a job and then a better job, she said. "It's the same in Brentwood, but the jobs there - factory jobs and so forth - require a high school degree."

None of the programs require proof of legal residency, except to apply for Federal tuition aid at Southampton College.