Academics

Our team works to create the complex thinkers colleges seek by introducing them to new ideas and ways of thinking — both personally and academically.

Working one-on-one with a passionate, dedicated educator unlocks student potential. We provide the academic support a student needs to review those Spanish verbs, master this geometry proof, and argue that thesis. A little support can build a lot of confidence — and also higher grades on report cards.

  • Writing is hard work, but it is a critical, teachable skill. Since most students struggle to organize their thoughts, we walk them through the steps of essay writing, the first of which is developing a strong outline. Countless former students have emailed from college to thank us for teaching them to write.

    We help with both creative and analytical essays, focusing on organization, style, conventions, word choice, and more. We encourage our strong writers to take the AP English exams, whether or not they are offered by their school.

  • Students K-12 benefit from reading support, regardless of their reading level. We work with those who need remediation and those who are hungry for enrichment. Students report that the ideas they bring into school after meeting with our instructors deepen the class conversation and elicit positive feedback from teachers. We emphasize that all writers must first be readers.

  • Students who lose points because their homework is incomplete or not turned in get caught in spirals of shame and avoidance. Working with an instructor ensures the work gets credit and the content and concepts mastered. Positive momentum leads to more success and motivation.

  • Intimate, individualized work allows an instructor to address each student’s needs. Many students who are bored and unengaged in the classroom blossom when they receive one-on-one attention. Our instructors consider limitations, but also to make students aware of what they do well. At the end of a session, students should not only have a stronger draft of a paper or a deeper understanding of calculus, but a sense of being more organized, more able, and more confident than when they arrived.

  • The actual writing of the research paper is not the stumbling block—gathering and organizing information gives students the most trouble. We assist with executive functioning challenges by breaking the project down into manageable parts. The first step is picking a topic; a poor choice is like building a skyscraper on quicksand. We then guide students through the research, brainstorming together to form a preliminary thesis statement. As we focus on building their case, the outline starts to take shape. The actual writing of the paper comes naturally if these building blocks are in place.