Our family had a very poor experience with Aloha Mind Math in Charlottesville, VA, managed by Biju and Ashwati. When we first enrolled our daughter about seven months ago, they were friendly and attentive. Unfortunately, that changed quickly. After the initial weeks, our daughter was assigned to different instructors, and the quality of teaching and communication declined significantly.
We had particularly unpleasant interactions with Ms. Sejal. She often gave feedback to students in front of other parents, which felt unprofessional and embarrassing for the kids. When I politely raised concerns about this, her behavior toward my daughter noticeably changed. She began openly comparing her to other students and making discouraging remarks like "learn from them," which I found completely inappropriate. When we approached the owners to request a teacher change, they asked for detailed explanations--which we provided--but ultimately did nothing to resolve the issue.
The pricing is also extremely high: around $300 per month for two subjects, plus a registration fee of about $130. They also charge a "security deposit" equal to a full month's tuition, which is very unusual for a tutoring service. On top of that, they require auto-draft payments--meaning you must be very proactive in stopping payments if you choose to end services. For the quality of instruction and the lack of support, the cost simply doesn't match the value.
Scheduling is another major issue. They follow the public school calendar, so if your child attends on Mondays or Fridays, expect frequent cancellations due to holidays. When you ask for make-up sessions, they cite the number of classes "included" in the monthly fee--information that was never disclosed clearly when we enrolled. Despite charging monthly, they cap the number of sessions per month, and you only realize that once you try to reschedule.
They also frequently rescheduled our daughter's sessions at their convenience, but when we needed to adjust the schedule, getting a makeup session was difficult. Communication from the owners was consistently poor. There were multiple instances where messages went unanswered for days. In one situation, I was actually waiting for Ms. Ashwati to discuss an issue, but she simply walked away after speaking with two other parents. It felt extremely disrespectful and dismissive. Ironically, the only time they responded quickly was when I emailed to cancel and stop the automatic drafts from my account.
Overall, our experience was stressful, disappointing, and not at all what we expected. I would not recommend this center, especially given the high fees and lack of professionalism. read more
