Great place to find a tutor for your busy high school student. Signed my daughter up for help in…read moreGeometry and she brought her grade up next text and for the final exam. A friendly and very qualified Stanford student worked patiently to review her current study area and prepare her for homework and quizzes. My daughter was hesitant and loathsome, but she appreciates I do little things to help her achieve success.

I've been taking an evening group Spanish class for the past few months and have thoroughly enjoyed…read morethe experience. The instructors at Learnika are experts at tailoring the class to fit the student's needs while maintaining a fun and informative atmosphere.

I had the privilege to work with Stuart on GMAT prep and also on B-school applications. During our…read moretime, my GMAT score increased by 70 points in three months and I ultimately got accepted at UC Berkeley Haas, all thanks to Stuart. He is the epitome of professionalism, intelligence, and kindness. What sets him apart is his heart; he is sincerely willing to help and would go above and beyond for his clients. Not just a mentor, Stuart also doubles as a friend, a partner, and a supporter. I could only go this far because of his help! I was lucky to have found him in the sea of tutors. Folks, he is the one!

I worked with Stuart in a 1:1 setting and was rather disappointed in his recommendations / advice…read moreto help me master some of the GMAT strategies (He is a former Veritas instructor, but never went to B-School himself). Scheduling an appointment with Stuart was also a nightmare and he strictly adheres to a 48hr no-cancellation / change request policy. Additionally, I was surprised that I rarely heard from him outside "classroom hours"- no check-in emails, support links, supplemental resources, etc. During our sessions, I often found myself listening to the same strategies and tactics that are found in the official guide and used in the Veritas online course (which I was also taking simultaneously). He would literally read things out of his presentation materials and MGMAT / OG books as if providing help and guidance along the way?! Unfortunately, due to the lack of differentiation and cumbersome scheduling process I decided to go with a Veritas tutor who has a much more structured and programmatic approach to the GMAT and also leverages the strategies and tactics used in Veritas Prep program.

I had the opportunity to take Product Marketing Manager class with Kareen Okaka through Product…read moreSchool. The class helped me prepare for Product Marketing in the future as I am transitioning. Kareen was very thoughtful and helped answer all of my questions during the five day course along with providing feedback. Thank you Kareen and Product School for guiding me every step of the way. I really appreciate it. It helped create a space for me to grow as an individual as I worked through day by day.

Product School offers several course offerings for Product Managers at various stages in their…read morecareer. I took the first of these, which I believe is the Product Manager Certificate, in July/August of 2020. The COVID-19 situation meant our class met virtually, I try to take that into account into my review. I feel like I need to separate my review into two parts, the instructor and the curriculum. First our instructor, Adithi: 5 stars, only because that's the maximum number of stars I'm allowed to give. From the beginning she has been incredibly generous with her time, knowledge, and resources. She's passionate about product management and eager to share that passion with her students. She also brought in guest speakers with extensive experience in the field, which added a lot to the conversations. I cannot recommend her highly enough. Second, the Product School curriculum: 3 stars. It ticked all the boxes for what I would expect from an introduction to product management--personas, product discovery, minimum viable products, roadmaps, etc. But it didn't seem to offer any value differentiation above reading various Product Management books, which I've done. Furthermore, the curriculum railroaded us into several pre-defined class projects. These were confusing and placed arbitrary constraints on our project development. And while I enjoyed working on this final project as a team, I also would have liked to build my own project from start to finish, for a real company of my own choosing. I believe Product School has recently overhauled its curriculum, and frankly I feel a little cheated because our group was one of the first cohorts to use this curriculum, which I don't feel is ready for prime time. I'm sure Product School will use this feedback to improve, but sadly I won't benefit from these improvements. Still, the chance to learn from Adithi and work with some amazing teammates still made the overall process worthwhile.

I am very appreciative of the guidance that Kathy Chi provided my daughter during her high school…read moreyears. Kathy helped my daughter select activities and courses that allowed her to show her leadership skills and passions throughout her high school years. She does not have a cookie-cutter approach to college advising. She wants each student shine in their own individual way. This is different than the traditional advising service that recommends you join this club, be elected as an officer, take this AP class, etc... Kathy was a source of inspiration and encouraged my daughter to research different opportunities rather than outlining a specific path for her. Working with Kathy was a growing experience for my daughter and helped her not only have a stronger college application but also to learn how to create opportunities. I highly recommend Kathy and the Admissions Academy!

My son had Mr. Kao as his math teacher back in 7th grade in a small group class, and he continued…read morewith him into 8th grade. Even in a group setting, Mr. Kao did an amazing job helping the kids truly understand Common Core concepts. He's patient, organized, and clearly very experienced with middle school math. In 8th grade, there weren't enough students to open a group class, but we still remember how much my son improved during the year he was with him. One thing I really appreciate about Mr. Kao is that he understands students with attention challenges. My son has ADHD, and Mr. Kao picked up on his learning style right away. He quickly identified where my son was struggling and used the right strategies to help him catch up. His patience and teaching techniques made a huge difference, and my son's confidence grew a lot because of him. Now that my son is in 10th grade, he actually asked to go back to Mr. Kao again. This time we're doing one-on-one lessons because we know he learns best with Mr. Kao's guidance. We're truly grateful for everything he's done. Mr. Kao is a caring, skilled, and reliable teacher who really knows how to reach his students. Highly recommended.

I heard good words about Andy from a friend just two weeks bf the final. My son's precal grade was…read moretumbled in a high B at that time. Even worse he missed the whole last unit class due to AP exams. That left him very little chance to bump to an A unless he can do extremely well on his last unit test and the final exam. Since my son is new to Andy, Andy spend time to communicate with me about my son's background. He asked all possible materials(syllabus, my son's gradebook, homework etc) to identify a plan. Since lack of time, he picked the most difficult chapters in the last unit to teach. After working with him, my son got a 104 out of 105 in his last unit test, the highest score my son ever gets. He even answered right on the bonus question. My son was encouraged by the result. For the final exam preparation, since we have only less than a week left, Andy suggests to focus on two of his weakest units. Even in short of time, Andy doesn't rush. He still worked from the basic concepts and filled the gaps that he observed. Andy also tried to correct my son's working habit, asking him not to skip steps when he does problems in his class. That is one of my son's biggest reasons to miss math problem. The final exam was very hard but my son did much better than expected. He got a 92 and finally bumped his grade to an A! He was so excited. We really appreciate Andy's help. He is very experienced, honest, and encouraging. He knows very well on how to identify where need to be focus on. And he likes to clarify the fundamental concepts before going to solve individual problems. That improved my son's understanding of math. Andy's class is very effective. We will definitely continue having him for future math tutor. Highly recommended.

Eugene has been my daughter's high school math tutor for one and a half years. He was highly…read morerecommended by a close friend of mine whose son had been tutored by Eugene for more than 3 years. Eugene has a wealth of knowledge and experience tutoring high school math and physics, and truly meets the student where they are. He focuses on strengthening understanding of the fundamentals before moving to more challenging problem sets. I noticed a clear improvement in my daughter's confidence in tackling challenging mathematical concepts and problems. Highly recommended!

Eugene taught my son AP Physics 1 and did a fantastic job. He explains theorems with examples and…read morealso makes students read the textbook a lost art in today's schools. This made my son grasp principles really well. I would recommend him w/o any reservations.

My daughter was diagnosed as having dyslexia in the 4th grade. I did everything to work with the…read moreCupertino Union School District to provide services to my daughter who was in special education since 2nd grade. I knew that she also needed extra support at home that I was not able to provide. I went to Sylvan and Kumon which provided me with conflicting reports from the school district. I finally had my own neuro - psychological report which took place over a few days which helped me to understand how to work with my daughter, but I still needed a education therapist. I went to Linda Mood Bell (recommended by psychologist) and paid for an expensive assessment as it is required for their program. I still did not feel comfortable as I knew that my daughter needed remediation before cognitive training. It seemed too much torture to have her there 5 days a week for 4 hours a day over the summer. I could not commit to spending a small fortune on something that I was not sure of and that was not customized to her needs. It was very stressful. It was then that I started to research private school specialized in learning difficulties and dyslexia. I visited Charles Armstrong and Los Altos Christian School....just to name a few...but I could not wait to apply for the next year or be on a wait list. Through research I knew that my daughter needed education therapy by someone who was trained in Slingerland methods. I did research online and found the Wunderling Learning Center through the Slingerland Institute site. My husand and I visited Ruthie who has extensive experience tutoring children with learning difficutlies. I felt at ease with her and confident in her abilities. She explained an ideal plan to work with my daughter which included assessments based on her observations working her as well as specific testing. Most of all we needed someone we could trust to work with our child. My husband and I decided to start off with 2 days a week of education therapy after school and started in July 2007. For the past several months Ruthie has helped us to work with our daughter at home, provided specific strategies to to address her learning issues and keeping focused. She has helped me through my daughters meltdowns over math and language arts. Ruthie has a talent to work with children and is commited to education. She also continues her education to provide additional services to her clients. She is now a PACE certified instructor and has added this as another tool to work with my daughter. It is February 2008 and my daugher got a 97% on her science test and has mainstreamed into a regular Math class. This is huge difference from last summer and my husband and I are very proud. We will continue with the education therapy with Ruthie. Do your research before making a commitment to put your child in any program. Many of the cookie cutter programs may try to take advantage of your need to provide for your child.

I wanted to write a further follow up on the PACE program now that we are a 1/2 a year into this…read moreprogram. I have seen remarkable changes in one of my children in relation to his test results - from a child that was average to a child that is now getting A's and B's on most of his tests. The only thing I can contribute this to is the PACE program. It has taught him techniques and ways to memories information. Last year he was nearly failing math - this year he's a A/B student. In science and history he is A+ - this program has given an average child a winning edge.

Backup repost from 11 months ago…read more "I'm giving four stars because I do not think the issues and censorship I experienced are an atypical response from a school. When I tried to bring light to bad deeds, I was suspended and threatened with expulsion. I never encountered physical violence. Bad deeds included severe emotional abuses, motivated by sexism, from older staff here. This and sex-based victim blaming - resembling misogynistic patterns - contributed significantly to suicidal my thoughts. Dehumanization was added through transphobia. Newer staff were less problematic than integrated ones, suggesting the administration's leadership is a source of problems. Last time I interacted, the administration did their best to manipulate the image to feign their innocence at all costs. These issues are adult topics, which adolescents like me ideally would not face; my experiences occurred about one year ago, and while I have learned to better describe them, I am not mature enough to understand the issue's whole systemic contexts."

As the parents of two high schoolers that could not be any more different, we have a deep…read moreappreciation and respect for the value of Palo Alto Prep (PA Prep) and their amazing educational staff. While one child has thrived in a traditional high school, our eldest did not. They are an amazing creative thinker but also challenged with the headwinds of a variety of learning and related social challenges. While they also handled middle school well, even thrived academically, to say that traditional high school was a train wreck is an understatement. We needed help as a family and PA Prep was there. Thankfully we discovered PA Prep through our engagement with the The Bodin Education Group (also highly recommended). After a careful evaluation of options (Bodin know them all!) and engagement with the team at PA Prep we could see that our son would benefit immensely from all that PA Prep is, and all that it offers to students like them. Is it perfect, absolutely not. But the positives for a student/young adult like our son far far FAR outweigh any minor drawbacks. The great: 1. Incredibly intimate teacher/staff/student relationships. You want your child to be known and know their school staff, they will. The ability to cater and focus on what works for your student is incredible. 2. Incredibly capable and proficient teachers who know how to work with students for whom regular school isn't a good fit. 3. Patience, understand and flexibility. Need to take a "break" road trip with your student on a moments notice? PA Prep understands and accommodates with complete understanding. 4. Diversity of classes and programs to engage an out of the box learner. From art, outdoors to flight training. Just because it's small doesn't limit the exposure of options for your student, lots to offer including independent project programs to nurture student led initiative. The realities (not bad but worthy of mention): 1. It is small, and high school is high school, no matter where you attend. This can sometimes magnify any typical social dynamics. The staff is incredibly attuned to this, but you also should be as a parent. It is important to recognize this is still high school and immediately addressing issues is critical, the staff is exceptional at partnering on this. 2. There is a diverse population of students with a diverse set of backgrounds and needs. With this comes the realities of all their experiences, lives and challenges. Your student will be exposed to this, as they would in any high school, it isn't a fully sheltered and manicured but it is absolutely safe. It is incredibly important to stay aware of this as a parent. I will ensure you the staff is very experience and aware also, together this can help any student navigate the realities of high school life safely and holistically. 3. Passion, intent and caring are the hallmarks of PA Prep staff and teachers. Organization and "manicured administration" perhaps not so much the strong suit. Do not go in expecting perfection in communication, organization or logistics. I promise this is ok, and everything is handled with the best of outcomes for the students. If you are used to the polish of a "elite" private/public high school you will notice a difference here. My strongest advice for a successful PA Prep tenure is to invest in your parental (and student) relationships with staff, they are both open and available. This will help your student, and family, easily manage what is lacking in any size, scale, capabilities on this less critical administrative front. In closing: We loved PA Prep, we could not imagine our son achieving high school success without it. For the right student this IS the right place. Attend one graduation ceremony and that is all it takes to see how different, special and wonderful Palo Alto Preparatory School is for its staff, students and families!