My son has been going to PEL for over a year now and it's definitely positively supplemented his…read moreregular school learning. We felt like he was starting to fall a bit behind and school work/assignments alone weren't giving him enough practice/rigor. He's been doing both English/language arts and math programs. The extra attention and practice/repetition caught him up and then some. PEL also has some fun incentives for kids to help support their motivation: they earn "money" for work completed successfully and can "buy" prizes. This also helps teach value and rewards/incentivizes saving for bigger prizes. If your kid could benefit from some extra practice/structure, it's worth at least doing the free consultation to see if PEL would be a good fit for their learning style.

PEL stands for "Pre-Eminent Learning" and is the new Kumon with the Singaporean math trend focus on…read morecommon core math that us millennial parents didn't grow up with. There aren't any Russian math options around Alameda yet so we decided to sign up for the free consult/testing for PEL for our then five year old at the end of TK to see where he was at and he's been enjoying it ever since. We go twice a week for one hour and with the daily homework, our kindergartner is enjoying math drills and writing practice/phonics/reading. It takes a second to make it a habit but now he enjoys it and timing himself on the homework (cue childhood trauma from Kumon where my mom had a stopwatch!). I stopped correcting the homework for my sanity (more trauma - my mom corrected all our Kumon with the borrowed answer books and yelled if we got too many wrong). At this young age, they have Junior PEL which is with a teacher in a small group (versus the older kids who independently work and then raise hands for help). Our son's favorite teacher is Teacher Anna. For the waiting parents, this place has better parking, location and amenities than Mathnasium or Kumon with the Southshore shopping center. You can go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Safeway, pickup dinner, get a foot massage at W Spa, go for a run/walk by Crown Beach, return Amazon purchases at Kohl's, go to the bank, charge your car, etc. It's a carve-out time for errands that makes PEL seamless into our hectic family life with two young children. You can also just veg on the phone or work while waiting in the lobby (they have a super clean bathroom and it's quiet). The couple that owns this location also has a sister location in San Leandro and they run it efficiently and smoothly bc Alameda is their second location. Director Lawrence and Ms Kiwi are caring and kind and they also conduct regular parent teacher conferences, which is helpful at projecting and quantifying the hours invested into PEL. The icing on the cake is the annual honor roll ceremony in October. They did a great in putting the event together with the kids and parents in mind and our son is so proud of his honor roll trophy and shows everyone that comes over. Highly recommend PEL (especially those in public school in alameda bc K doesn't have homework!)

My son is in 2nd grade and on the younger side of the grade. We enrolled in LEAP last October and…read moreconsidered both reading and math but started with math first due to the time commitment. I've really enjoyed the structure of the classes - small groups with tutors but each student is working on their level at their pace. They get help if they ask and they can work independently if they understand for the practice/repetition. They also have a fun "rewards" system for the kids to redeem prizes. The room is always quiet despite so many kids and that's showing the kids are focused versus being rowdy. They also do parents night out and summer camps! The parking is easy if you park at the Alameda Landing area and you can shop at Safeway for groceries or at Target for fun funds. The other thing I can do is squeeze in a workout when the kids are at LEAP!

This is a great place for children. They do tutoring and movie nights for the children.read more

I called Piedmont Tutoring looking for help in Chemistry. My course at Berkeley was not unusually…read moredifficult but after a month in I had a high C, no not the drink. The regional manager was very knowledgeable and took some background info in order to assign someone for me. The tutor ended up working out really well. Alex was able to meet me at the school library around once a week (sometimes more for tests and quizzes). He actually graduated from Berkeley and had taken the same course before. Sometimes scheduling didn't work but he made sure I was taken care of at least once a week. Never hired a tutor before so the experience overall was enjoyable. I believe they do offer to change tutors if you aren't happy but I didn't have to deal with that. Will call again but hopefully won't have to!

My daughter Angie wasn't doing well in her calculus course during her first year of college. We…read moreweren't sure if we should drop or continue. I reached out to Piedmont Tutoring for a tutor that can help us out. Andrew was our "first responder" and helped us right away. Our assigned tutor worked well with Angie and has improved her confidence and her grades over the last few months. He has been flexible and easy to communicate with. We kept a consistent schedule throughout the year which was best for both parties. Would recommend to others looking for tutoring in the area.

Camy is truly the best tutor ever! Warm, sensitive to the student's needs, flexible in approach,…read morewilling to try new things, highly communicative... and super smart to boot (fluent in English and French, and even speaks Mandarin!). Highly recommend. My son and needed help with English writing: he had lots of creative ideas, but structuring those ideas, bringing them to life, finer points of grammar, vocabulary etc. were challenging. Camy devised a series of classes where he would write elaborate fiction over a few sessions, with each writing session focusing on different skills. Result: his writing tightened up, vocabulary improved, and he felt more confident in English. On top of this, Camy made the classes enjoyable. My son LOVED his sessions with them. He used to say classes were so fun that he would lose track of time. Thanks Camy!

We had a wonderful experience working with Camille. She tutored my son for the essay writing prep…read more She was very effective in working on his areas of improvements and organizing thought process. Camille is an exceptional tutor for ISEE.

Our journey at TRIS was an experience that our family will always appreciate and treasure. The…read morestaff and teachers are dedicated to helping the students grow and discover possibilities from within. Their holistic approach for academic and personal development is what stands out most for us. As parents, TRIS was a valued partner in helping us uphold and reinforce our desire to nurture responsibility and accountability in our children. It wasn't enough for our children to be "smart.," although it is evident that our children and other TRIS children are among the smartest in their respective environments. Our goal was to instill behaviors that help them to lead, to participate in and to consider the world around them. Overall, Montessori education has made an incredible impact on how my children tackle challenges and conflict in their lives. As a result, they embrace opportunities to meet new people and try difficult things even when they are nervous or afraid. This is even the case for one of our children who exhibited shyness and introversion from a young age. TRIS and Montessori education helped us to realize that our children have innate capabilities and interests that will enable them to pursue things that have purpose and value to them now and in the future. There aren't enough words to describe the foundation TRIS helped to build in our children. Completely worth the investment and sacrifice.

We were initially drawn to TRIS for its Montessori-inspired, self-directed learning style and what…read moreseemed like a knowledgeable and nurturing teaching staff. Our children attended from 2021 to 2023, starting in Pre-Primary and Primary. While our neurotypical daughter did okay, our son--who has learning differences--was not supported in the way we expected from a school that emphasizes individualized education. After his teacher and the head of the elementary program raised concerns, we pursued a comprehensive private assessment based on their recommendation. When we shared the results--which showed he was severely academically behind (below the 5th percentile in reading skills)--we received no response for two weeks. When they did reach out, the response was dismissive and lacked urgency. Even though they had asked for the assessment, they questioned the accuracy of the results and brushed off the findings by saying, "everyone learns at their own pace." His significant learning gaps were not treated as an educational concern. The burden of support was placed entirely on us as parents--recommendations focused on hiring outside specialists, while the school offered no internal interventions or accommodations. At the parent-teacher conference, we were blindsided when the Head of School abruptly informed us, with no opportunity for discussion, that our son would not be offered a spot in the Elementary program because there were "too many special needs kids" already enrolled. While our daughter didn't face academic challenges, even she--and her brother--commented on how much more engaging and enjoyable public school was after leaving TRIS. Leadership has since changed, but the current team still includes the former Head of School's daughters and son-in-law. TRIS may look progressive on the surface, but families of children with learning differences should ask careful questions before enrolling. In our experience, it was not an inclusive or responsive environment. One final note: our daughter once suffered a deep gash on her finger--apparently from one of the school's cots--and needed stitches. When her teacher called to notify us, it was made to sound minor, and we were told there was no need to pick her up. When I arrived, I saw how serious the cut was and took her to the doctor immediately. That experience reinforced our concerns about how the school handled safety and communication.

We have had a wonderful experience with Pacific Bay Christian School. One of our children has…read morealready graduated from PacBay and is now in college, and our second child is currently a senior and will be graduating this summer. Both of them were able to get into the colleges they wanted, thanks in part to the strong foundation they received here. PacBay's small, close-knit community is truly special. The small class sizes mean that teachers know each student by name -- they know them well, not just as a headcount, but as an individual who matters. It's clear that every student is seen, supported, and valued by both the teachers and the broader community. The school also provides many opportunities for students to grow academically, socially, and personally. The leadership team is attentive and genuinely listens to students' needs, making real efforts to act on their feedback. We are so grateful to have been part of the PacBay family and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a caring, supportive high school environment.

We live in Berkeley and both our daughters attend St. T. We are so grateful to St. T for helping…read moreour daughters be their best. We are especially impressed with the St. Theresa's teaching staff, their high academic standards, and the St. T community.

My friend introduced us to Dr. Austin when my son was a sophomore. Dr. Austin is very approachable…read moreand knows how to talk to him. She has given him many great advice such as volunteer work and summer programs. She helped him apply for summer programs for both sophomore year and junior year. She also talked to him regularly about his academics. The college application has been a long and daunting process, I was worried about his essays especially the common app essay. Dr. Austin brought the best out of him in the personal statement, a compelling story highlighted with his accomplishments through hard work. We worked with her and took a lot of her advice for the last two and half years and we are thrilled of the outcome of college admission!

PLEASE NOTE! A WORD OF CAUTION FOR POTENTIAL CLIENTS: Barbara talks a lot about how much your…read morechild's story means in their applications, but her actions while editing my child's essays speak volumes about her capabilities and false pretenses about loving students. When my child would come to her with heartfelt essays about her experiences and hopes for the future, Barbara would brutally slash up my child's essays until they were bare boned. No story, no flair, no emotion, nothing. Not to mention Barbara also told my child that her essays were "terrible" or that she should not apply at all. Those same essays, without any edits, got her into incredibly competitive schools in and out of state. She also edits the essays in FRONT of my child right before they meet. She wouldn't spend time to thoroughly edit the essays beforehand despite asking for them a week in advance. To top it all off, Barabra is phenomenally bad at making good on her scheduling appointments and will force you to sign a multi-thousand dollar contract, to lock you in. She has made appointments with my child multiple times and then proceeded to cancel last minute because she double booked, or would force my child to wait.

Chris and his team are incredible and truly care about each child's success. They're flexible with…read morescheduling and make it very easy to find times that work for our family. Communication has been great, and we regularly receive progress reports, which really helps us see how our children are improving. We have one child who was below grade level in math and has made huge progress this year, largely due to the support and instruction he's getting here. We also have a younger child who is above grade level, and we feel confident he'll have a real leg up going into 3rd grade thanks to Mathnasium. We feel very good about the investment we're making here and would highly recommend Mathnasium (this location specifically) to any family looking for strong math support.

I was searching for a math tutor or a place to help my child who was struggling with math. I…read morebrought my child in for an evaluation and had the opportunity to speak with Christopher about my concerns. He was very helpful in addressing my questions and explained the process clearly. The initial assessment helps them determine my child's strengths and weaknesses. They then place the student in the appropriate level to strengthen their math foundation. They don't move the student forward until they fully understand the current level, which I appreciate. This approach builds a strong foundation for more complex math problems, instead of just placing the student in a level they're not ready for.